Persona Dream
by The Generalist Gamer
Summary: The influence of Shadows has gone overseas. Follow the American high schooler Tyson Rayne as he and his friends travel into the world of their dreams to fight against the Shadows and uncover a plot that threatens humanity itself.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

_Urgh…my head…what happened? Where am I? And who's playing a piano?!_

_Well, give credit where credit's due. Whoever's playing it is really good._

I lift my head up from my crossed arms and apply pressure to my temples. My vision is misty and I feel somewhat queasy, like when you wake up from a really vivid dream. Rubbing my eyes with the base of my palm, I try to collect my surroundings. Everything in the room I'm in is painted entirely a violet color, including the stool I'm sitting on, which has quite the fancy cushion. Gold threading, intricate markings, the whole nine yards. If I didn't know any better, I'd say I'm in a bar…which makes even less sense considering I'm underage, have never been to a bar, and don't drink.

"Greetings…" a smooth voice calls out to me.

Nearly leaping from my seat from the sudden voice, I look up to see an old hunchbacked crazy-eyed balding man in a fancy suit standing behind the bar and, holy crap, this guy has the longest nose I have ever seen in my life. If I lean too far forward he could probably poke my eye out with it. The strangest thing about this man, though, is that while he seems like someone you'd see on the streets of New York in the dead of night trying to polish your shoes, he has some sort of air about him that makes him seem…I dunno, important?

"Welcome…to the Velvet Room!" The man holds his arms out, motioning to the room. He speaks in a way that would normally be unnerving, but this case, almost sounds thoughtful and knowledgeable. He brings his arms back to his chest. "And my name is Igor. I am delighted to make your acquaintance."

I stumble on my words, but eventually manage to force out a, "H-hello…"

Igor chuckles and a chill runs up my spine. If I had half a brain, I'd get up and run, but I can't seem to find the exit. In fact, aside from Igor and I, the bar, the rack of drinks behind it, and the seat I'm sitting on, the room is entirely empty.

_So where the hell is that piano?!_

"Do not be alarmed. Please, calm yourself," Igor says. "There is much we have to discuss and I'm afraid we haven't much time!"

I hesitate, but eventually decide to steel myself. I sit up straighter and look Igor in the eyes. If staying here gets me killed, my obituary is gonna be really embarrassing, not to mention hard to explain.

"This place exists between dream and reality, mind and matter..."

"So, then…I'm dreaming," I state. Makes sense, I guess.

Igor chuckles again. "All of our guests seem to ask that question…yes, you would happen to be dreaming…for now, at least. Someday, you will come to enter this room of your own accord."

_Yeah, when hell freezes over._

"Only those bound by a contract may enter this place," Igor continues. "Henceforth, you shall be welcomed here in the Velvet Room as our special guest."

"You keep mentioning multiple people," I pique up. "But as far as I can see, there's just us."

"Most days, I have an assistant beside me," Igor flashes one of the creepiest smiles I have ever seen. "However, she could, unfortunately, not make it this evening. I will have to apologize on her behalf, as she was very much looking forward to meeting you."

I nod in agreement, and Igor keeps talking. "To remain a loyal guest in the Velvet Room is to do one thing and one thing only: To take full responsibility for any and all actions you perform and choices that you make." He waves his arm and a white sheet of paper with small writing appears before me on the bar. At the bottom is, strangely enough, my signature. "This contract binds you to this agreement, and thereby this place, as well as giving you access to our services."

"I never signed this!" I shout.

Igor looks slightly displeased. "Whether you physically signed it or not, destiny has called you here. The cards have spoken."

_Cards? What the hell is this guy smoking?!_

"I will continue to offer my services as long as you abide by the contract."

"What services?"

The man chuckles again. He seems pleased by the oddest things. "This will become clear in time. Remember my words, and think on them."

Reaching into his coat pocket, Igor pulls out a shiny purple key. The round end of it is decorated with what looks like a half-black, half-white mask. He places the key in my hands, using both of his own gloved hands to secure it in my grasp. I start panicking again when I find that the key is warmer than Igor's skin.

"Take this, and do not lose it," he says to me in a serious tone. He pulls back his hands as I place the key in my left pocket. "We will meet again in the near future. Take care…"

Igor chuckles again as my vision gets even hazier. I feel myself falling, the sounds of the piano are drowning out, and everything fades to black…

**{~}**

I snap awake and sit up straight in my seat on the plane. My pillow's propped up vertically on the window and the cabin is dark. The only sounds I can hear are the slight hum of the engine, the barely audible music emanating from the headphones of the older woman next to me, and the occasional loud snore of the whale of a man in the back.

_… I drooled on my pillow. Classy, self._

I reach into my left pocket and pull out…a key. I was partially hoping that I was just having a crazy fever dream. I sigh and return the key to my pocket. As I readjust my pillow, I gaze out the window. Through the expanse of gray clouds, I can see the lights of a city below me, the place bustling with activity. I was never someone who liked crowded and noisy cities. Thankfully, that's not where I'm going. I check the clock on my cell phone and see that it's only 5 AM. If I remember right, I won't be landing for another couple hours.

_Great. Now I just have too much in my brain to sleep._

I try to get comfortable again and pick a song to listen to. I crank up my headphones and try to sleep, but after tossing around for about ten minutes, I decide it's a hopeless cause. I unzip the backpack at my feet and pull out a pen and red notebook from it, the front reading "Journal" in big black block letters. I flip it open to the fourth page and scribble down my thoughts.

_"August 3rd, 2013 - Had a weird dream. Crazy old man with a big nose. Something about fate and cards. Showed me a contract I never signed and now I have a key. Really confused; don't know what it means."_

After thinking for a little longer, my pen returns to the paper.

_"Not feeling so great. Don't know how people at school will treat me. I barely have enough time to move in first. Hope my aunt isn't a bitch."_

Feeling satisfied with my entry, I put the notebook and pen back into my backpack and put my head on my pillow, this time successfully drifting off.

**{~}**

"Excuse me…sir…"

_Who's waking me up and why do they have a death wish?_

My eyelids slowly begin to part, weary from sleep. The lights inside the plane are on and the sun is just beginning to rise. I sit up, stretch my aching body, and look over to the voice – the flight attendant.

"We've arrived to your destination. Thank you for flying with us, sir."

I take a quick glance around the plane, seeing vacant seats all throughout the cabin. Had I really slept through the entire rest of the flight?

"Where-…where are we?"

"Gode, North Dakota, sir."

_Oh, thank God._

I thank the flight attendant and she heads back to the cockpit of the plane. Hoisting my backpack onto my right shoulder, I pop in my headphones, head into the airport, and immediately begin bumping into people.

_Ugh. Crowds._

Using my expert skills of dodging people in school hallways, I proceed to duck and weave through the mass of people, some of them too tired to care what's going on, others in a rush to make their takeoff time, and some just standing around making calls. I swing by one of the food outlets and nab an egg &amp; cheese biscuit before making a beeline for the luggage pickup. Luckily, they hadn't lost any of my bags, and I'm certainly not in the mood to be dealing with unhappy airport workers. With my rolling suitcase in tow, I head for the pickup lane and pick a bench. The warm emerging sun makes me regret picking black sweatpants to wear for the flight. I quickly scarf down the biscuit and throw the wrapper into my backpack. Feeling myself growing tired again, I pull out my smartphone, my fingers flying across the keyboard, composing a message for my aunt.

_-In the pickup lane. You here yet?-_

A few minutes pass before a reply appears.

_-Almost. Hang tight. :) -_

As I place the phone back in my pocket, a young-looking businessman in a night-black suit and maroon tie sits in the bench alongside me. He could be young enough to have just graduated from college, but the amount of papers he has makes him seem like a higher-up. He begins cycling through papers in his suitcase, as if checking to make sure he has everything. His frantic green eyes catch my presence and he smiles and nods a greeting. I nod back. He begins speaking to me, but all I hear is a sick guitar solo.

"I'm sorry?" I say as I pluck out the earbuds.

The man chuckles and asks again. "You're a ways from home, huh?"

I flash a look of confusion. The man slightly blushes and points at the tag on my suitcase labeled 'New York City'.

"Oh, right. Y-yeah, I'm, uh…moving in."

A look of shock appears on the man's face. "Moving? Here?" He laughs. "How do you go from the city to such a small rural place like this?"

"Small places have airports?" I ask.

He laughs again. "Fair point, fair point. What I mean is this place isn't nearly as hectic as the big city. It's odd to make such a huge change." He stops for a moment before reaching out his hand. "Charles Mink," he tells me.

"Tyson Rayne," I reply returning the handshake. Curiosity fuels my next question. "What about you? What're you here for?"

Charles immediately tenses up. "I-it's, u-um…well, top-secret." He looks at me and seems to be thinking. "Long story short, I travel for business a lot. This is my next station for the next couple of years."

I murmur an agreement and nod. Just then, a vibration goes off in my right pocket.

_-Here. Blue van.-_

I scan the area and find a navy blue minivan parked at the far side of the lane.

"Ride's here?" Charles asks.

"Yeah. I'm staying with my aunt."

"Ah, right, right." He reaches into his pocket and pulls out a small white card. "Hey, feel free to call sometime. Fellow city folk gotta stick together when out of their comfort zone, am I right?"

I smile and nod, putting his card into my back pocket, despite the sketchiness of the situation. The man sits back and stares at the passing cars as I head towards my aunt's van.

A tall and skinny but not exactly young woman exits the front door. Her brown hair is curled and she's wearing a bright blue dress and is boasting a tan. She extends her bony arms as she approaches me.

"Tyson!" she exclaims as she embraces me. I don't remember her all that well, but I return the gesture anyways.

"Hi, Aunt Joanne," I say as she releases me from her crushing grip.

"Aw, you sound exhausted," she states as she lets me go. She examines the silver watch on her wrist and smiles. "Well, it is six in the morning. Let's get you home and you can sleep." She yawns as we head for our car doors and I swear I hear her say, "Hell, I need some sleep of my own."

I throw myself into the passenger seat. The car's a nice model, and would seem new if it weren't for the musty unfamiliar smell, food crumbs forever pressed into the carpet, and the glove compartment overflowing with receipts.

"Sorry," Aunt Joanne apologizes. "I meant to clean out my car, but I just didn't have the time!"

I smile at her politeness.

_So far, she's not a bitch. This could go in my favor._

"It's fine," I reply. "My room at home wasn't much better."

She chuckles at my response, then with sudden realization, says, "Oh, I almost forgot; all your stuff came in the mail yesterday. It's already in your room. I just didn't unpack it 'cause I didn't know how you wanted it…and because I didn't want to break anything."

I find myself smiling. She seems like a genuinely nice and energetic person. Big change from the person I used to live with. My aunt twists the dial on the radio, bringing up a morning talk show for us to listen to. I don't care much for these, but sometimes they can say some interesting things.

_"-ever tried it."_

_"Seriously? Never?_

_"No, not once!"_

_"C'mon, Beth, everybody has had a lucid dream at some point in their lives."_

One of the voices, the one protesting, laughs. A female.

_"I never have!"_

_"Well, maybe you just don't remember!"_

"Do you know when school starts up?" I ask my aunt.

"Two days," she says. "August 5th."

I breathe a heavy sigh. "Seriously? That soon?"

My aunt grins at me. "Hey, come on; don't see it as a bad thing! You'll be able to meet new friends sooner!"

_…damn, she's right._

I've never been the best at making friends, but if I can get an early start to meet some new people, then hell, I'll take it.

_"Well how do you do that?"_

_"I…think you have to eat cheese or something."_

_"Cheese…?"_

_"Yeah, cheese. Any kind of dairy, actually."_

_"Uh-huh. And that's it?"_

_"Well, no. You lie perfectly still on your back for 10 minutes. Th-that's what this webpage says, anyways. Sometimes it just happens, too."_

With my forearm propping my head up, I continue staring out the window at the rolling scenery. We pass by trees, housing developments, eventually reaching what looks to be an outlet mall and a school across the street (of which my aunt points out to be my school), then more houses, some fields, and Aunt Joanne finally pulls into a neighborhood past the run-down part of town with a gas station and a tiny strip mall with family-owned shops and a cheap-looking movie theater.

_"Haha, okay, sure. Keep telling yourself that. Anyways, now to turn you over to Kat Milton for your daily traffic repor-"_

I snap out of my trance as the car's engine cuts. My aunt exits the door and grabs my suitcase, wheeling it into the opening garage. I groggily stumble out of the passenger side and throw open the door. Inside is, surprisingly, quite nice, with brown couches, granite countertops, a large-screen TV, and plenty of expensive-looking trinkets in shelves and cabinets.

_Must've spent more time cleaning the house than the car._

"Where's the bathroom?"

My aunt closes and locks the garage door behind us and points towards the hallway past the living room. "First door on the left."

I thank her and head in. After relieving myself, I wash my hands and look at my face in the mirror.

_I look like shit._

My short sandy brown hair's a greasy mess, I have huge bags under my eyes, and my slightly tanned face looks like it's hosting a war between small zits and long scraggly unshaved hairs. I sigh and dry my hands, but not before a ringing goes off in my mind. My hand instantaneously grabs my forehead.

_(…ime…ken…ower…)_

_Wh-what th-the hell…?!_

As fast as it came on, the pain subsides. I blink rapidly and shake my head violently.

_I must be tired…yeah…jet lag, right? North Dakota's…I dunno, hour behind or something…_

I drag myself out of the bathroom and back into the living room. To the left of the bathroom hallway is another hallway leading to the dining room in the front of the house, the front door, and a staircase leading upstairs. My aunt comes down the stairs and notices me.

"Your bed is already made," she says. "Go on up, get some rest. If you wake up before me, there's food and snacks in the pantry."

"Thanks…" I say as a limp up the stairs. The upstairs hallway has a bathroom of its own to the right, my room across the hall, and another two doors at the end of the hallway. I assume one's a linen closet and the other is Aunt Joanne's room.

I enter my room to find a bed with a dark wood frame and red sheets in the back right corner of the room facing the door. The wall looks unpainted, as if the previous occupant just didn't want it painted. I'm curious as to who used to live in here, but I push that question aside for later. I walk over to the two windows, passing taped-closed cardboard boxes stacked against the wall and closet door as well as my wood desk and an entertainment center with a cable box and small TV in corner opposite my bed, and lower the white blinds to blot out the approaching sun. I drop my backpack onto my bed and pull out my phone charger, plugging it in with a _zrrt_ into the outlet closest to my bed. I pull the crushed pillow from my backpack and toss it onto my bed and my backpack across the room. Flopping onto the bed, I plummet into a deep, deep sleep.

* * *

I awake to complete and utter blackness.

_Crap, did I go blind?!_

With the cracking of bones, my weary neck lifts my face out of the embrace of my pillow.

_Oh._

Bright sunlight filters through the blinds of my windows, and birds can be heard outside. I reach down for my phone to check the time – almost noon. With intense effort, I force myself out of my bed and onto my feet. I stretch my body, every bone making a loud crackling sound. Retrieving my body wash and shampoo from my suitcase, I grab a towel from the linen closet in the hallway and enter the bathroom for a shower.

Nearly a half hour later, I'm freshly washed, shaved, my teeth are brushed, my hair is combed, I'm dressed in my regular summer attire (that being a sleeveless blue- and black-striped shirt, navy blue cargo shorts, and a black rubber bracelet on my left hand), and a little acne cream is applied for good measure. When I re-enter my room, I toss my pajamas to the far end of the room, my pants making a clunk sound as they hit the wall.

_…hmm?_

I pick the pants back up, feeling through its pockets, finding not only Charles' business card, but the key Igor gave me. I sigh. I was still clinging onto the dim hope that I was simply exhausted from the flight and that I never actually met the man or got the key, but having it in my possession…it's too big a deal to ignore. Now that my mind is clear and awake, I have a slight tinge of panic.

_If I have something that was given to me in my dream, then what does that mean? Am I supposed to listen to that guy? When will I see him again?_

I take a deep breath. There's no use thinking about it. He said I'd go back at some point. I may as well wait until then.

As for Charles' business card, his name is printed in fine black letters as well as a cell number. There's a logo on the top right of the card for what I'd assume to be the company he works for, but I can't recall seeing it anywhere before. It looks like a mess of lines to me, so I give up and put the card in my wallet.

Using the Velvet Key as a razor, I begin slicing apart the tape on my boxes and arranging my stuff. I put my desk against the left wall across the room from my bed, and set up and plug in my desktop computer. A couple trinkets of mine go on the entertainment center around my TV, but the others will have to wait until I have shelves. A wooden dresser is in the opposite corner of my bed against the right wall, and I begin organizing my clothes inside it. Funny; most of my clothes all look exactly the same…never noticed that before. Once I'm satisfied with the layout of my room, I stuff unopened and half-emptied boxes into my closet and put the emptied ones into the hallway. It's now around one in the afternoon.

"I see you're all set up!"

I turn to see my aunt in the doorway. She's in jeans and a t-shirt now.

"Yeah," I reply. "Wanted to do something productive."

"I see," she says. "Do you want to go get some lunch? Get to know each other a little better?"

My stomach decides the answer for me. I grab my phone and wallet and we pile into the minivan. After a bit of driving, we arrive at the outlet mall across the street from the school. It's a relatively large complex, with tightly-packed stores arranged around the parking lot. There's a central plaza with benches, soft grass, and a running fountain. Plenty of teens my age are running around with their friends, trying to squeeze the last little drop of life from their summer vacation. My aunt finds a parking spot and we walk out into the pathway.

"So, what do you want to eat?" she asks.

I survey my surroundings. Most of the stores are ones for clothing, but some are for games, books, movies, and there's even a candy store, but among these are some small restaurants. We decide on a sub shop and begin walking towards it with a number of students passing us by. I'll be a junior this year so I'm scoping out people who are in my age group, only I can't seem to tell what anyone's ages are. Everyone looks about the same. I spot a group of loud girls laughing with each other, multiple guys roughhousing and swearing up a storm, and a light brown-haired boy with glasses in a gray t-shirt and khakis holding hands with a pretty girl in a stunning yellow dress.

We eventually reach the sub shop and are greeted by the workers behind the counter. A boy who looks to be my age with combed-down dark brown hair is grinning ear-to-ear at the cash register.

"Hey there, buddy! What can I get for ya?!" he proudly exclaims.

I scan the menu and pick out my order. My aunt does the same and pays for our food, and as we're heading to our table, the cashier calls out to me. I motion for my aunt to go ahead and find a table and begin making small talk with him.

"I haven't seen you around here before," he says. "You new here?"

"Yeah, I just moved in. Today, in fact."

"No kidding? Where from?"

"New York."

The guy laughs. "Seriously? Damn, that's a ways away."

"I don't mind. I never really liked the city. Too noisy, too many people. It really starts to stress you out after a while."

"Yeah, I get'cha," he says. "You going to school on Monday?"

"Should be, though I'm not all that excited about it."

The cashier frowns slightly. His dark brown eyes shift to the side. "Me either. School means I need to quit this job. I really like it here, but they're not keen on weekend workers for some reason." He returns his gaze to me and scoffs. "Not having money is gonna be a huge pain." His face goes back to a smile and he reaches out his hand. "Emile."

_Funny name…_

"Tyson," I respond, returning the handshake.

"Hey, maybe we'll have a class together!" he exclaims.

I'm about to respond, but suddenly the ringing in my head from last night returns. I can hear my heart pumping and my vision goes slightly hazy.

"…whoa, dude, you okay?" Emile must've noticed me spacing out and shows genuine concern.

I look back up at Emile and try to recompose myself. "Yeah, I'm-…"

_(Magician.)_

_…huh?_

I shake my head and I snap back into reality. "Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. Jet lag's just getting to me."

Emile continues to look worried, but thankfully decides to take my word for it. "If you say so, man. Take it easy, alright? I'll probably see you Monday."

I nod in agreement. "Yeah. I'll keep an eye out for you. See ya."

I walk back to the table and sit across from my aunt. She's already got the subs and started eating hers. She hands me an empty cup; I get root beer from the soda fountain and return to my seat.

"So," my aunt asks. "What kind of stuff do you like to do outside of school?"

In-between bites I manage to get out an answer. "Some sports. Some video games. Writing. Used to play guitar, but I haven't practiced in a long time and I sold it a while ago. Kinda wish I hadn't, though."

"Oh," Aunt Joanne responds. "What kind of sports?"

"Used to be on the baseball team at my old school," I point out. "Wasn't the best at it, but I liked doing it."

"This school has a baseball team, too, and a lot of other sports and clubs, I hear. You should keep an eye out for registration."

"Yeah, probably,"

I look up at my aunt and she looks at me, seemingly triggering the ringing in my ears again, only this time, it's quieter and less staggering.

_(Sun.)_

My eyes dart around the room. "Who keeps-…?!"

"Who keeps what?" my aunt asks.

I snap back to attention, not wanting to worry her.

_Am I going completely insane?!_

"N-nothing. No big deal," I say, trying to comfort her worries. I continue eating my sub, avoiding the subject as best I can. Just like Emile, she still shows concern, but decides to drop it.

_What're those voices? Where are they coming from? And what's "Magician" and "Sun" mean?_

Too many unanswered questions are flinging through my brain. If I'm not going mad now, I'll definitely start to dip into insanity if I don't find out what all these sudden changes mean. The voices, the headaches, the-…

The key. Igor. If anyone can answer my questions, it's gotta be Igor. All of this started happening after he barged into my brain.

_But how do I get back to the Velvet Room?_

"Maybe we should get back home," my aunt says, derailing my train of thought.

"No, no, I…" I pause. Actually, she's right. I have a splitting headache and I'm still dizzy. "…yeah, okay. Let's go."

Both of us finish up our food and drinks and head out.

"Bye, Tyson! Nice meeting you!" I hear Emile say.

"You too," I reply as we head out the door.

* * *

"Are you sure you're alright?"

"Yes, I'm fine!"

I appreciate how she's worried about me, but my aunt grilling me is starting to get on my nerves. I'm not physically sick, but there's definitely something fishy going on in my head.

"Maybe you should go take a nap…"

_Last time I did that, an old guy violated my mind._

"I'll be alright. I just need some Advil and some alone time."

Aunt Joanne reluctantly agrees to my request and fetches me two small red pills. I down them and retreat to my room, but not before thanking my aunt for lunch. I immediately switch my pants out for nylon workout shorts and flop onto my bed with my notebook and pen in hand. I return to this morning's entry and continue writing.

_"Now I'm hearing things. When I look at people, voices start going off in my head, and I've been having extreme headaches. On the upside, I met someone today and my aunt is very kind to me. School starts in two days. Maybe I can get some answers before then."_

I put the book and pen in my nightstand drawer and go back to staring at the ceiling. The medicine begins to kick in and my headache starts to subside. Now to solve the problem of finding the Velvet Room…

_He said I'd decide to go next time. Maybe if I sleep I'll go back? …it's probably not that easy._

My mind is rife with questions that a day ago I would've found ridiculous. My thought process is, however, once again interrupted, this time by the doorbell. I hear the pounding of my aunt's footsteps downstairs as she answers the door.

"Oh, hello Maria!" I hear her say.

_…a girl?_

I can't hear any response, but my aunt's voice is perfectly audible, despite being muffled by the floor.

"Tyson! Come down here!"

_Hoo boy._

I trudge down the steps to find my aunt talking to a cute girl in the doorway.

"Tyson, this is Maria Reynolds," my aunt says. "She lives just down the street."

Maria seems to instantly get nervous when she sees me coming down the stairs. Her face turns a new shade of pink.

"H-…h-hi…" she says. No wonder I couldn't hear her end of the conversation; her voice is really weak and quiet.

"Hey," I reply.

Maria's got deep blue-green eyes and her blonde hair is tied up in a braid that reaches the small of her back, yet a part of her bangs still sticks out and drapes over her forehead. She's wearing a light blue tank-top and short denim shorts. Her face seems very child-like, but in a relatively adorable way. In her arms is a plate wrapped in tin-foil.

"I-…um…h-here," she holds the plate out to me and I graciously take it. "They're brownies…I made them myself." She looks up at me and smiles shyly with her hands clasped down by her waist. Her stance seems very withdrawn and shy.

_(High Priestess.)_

_Oh, give me a break already!_

I take a peek at the brownies. Admittedly, they look and smell fantastic.

"Thanks, uh…Maria, right?" I ask. She nods her answer. This time, I'm the one to offer my hand. "Tyson."

She weakly returns the handshake, as if she wasn't expecting it. "I-it's nice to meet you…I hope you like it here." She flashes a smile, one that portrays genuine kindness and sincerity. She seems to be mustering up something to say, and eventually blurts it out. "My oldest brother is gonna drive me to school in the morning with my other brothers and I…w-would you like to carpool with us?"

I shoot a look at my aunt, asking for approval.

"I was actually going to ask you that," Aunt Joanne said. "I'm worried work will get in the way too much for me to take him. That would be very kind of you."

"Yeah, it would," I tell Maria. "Thank you."

She blushes even more and smiles brightly. "We'll get you at 7:00, okay?"

"Sounds good!" I exclaim. "I'll see you then?"

Maria nods. "Y-yeah. Goodbye!" she says as she turns to walk away, waving at my aunt and me.

"Bye," we say. "Thanks for the brownies!" I add, but she's already practically sprinting down the street.

_Holy crap, her confidence was at an all-time low._

"She's a very sweet girl," Aunt Joanne says as I close the door. "She's really artsy, too."

"How old is she?" I ask out of curiosity.

"Fourteen, I think," she responds. "She'll be a freshman this year." My aunt laughs. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say she thinks you're cute!"

I blush slightly. "How do you know that?"

"She was talking to me just fine, and then locked up when she started talking to you!" She laughs again. "Though, she is naturally shy."

_No shit._

"I'm just glad to be meeting people. I'm not thinking about dating anyone right now."

"I didn't say you had to ask her out!" Aunt Joanne says. "Besides, she might be a bit young for you."

_And she can't talk to me without practically pissing herself._

A few more hours of alone time playing video games and cleaning up my room later, my aunt and I eat a hearty dinner of delivery pizza. She says she hasn't had time to go shopping, which makes me wonder what she does for her job. What could possibly take up so much time?

"I'm a nurse at the hospital on the edge of town," she informs me. "I get called in suddenly a lot."

I nod. That makes sense, and would also explain how she can afford all her stuff. The two of us make small talk while watching some crime dramas on the TV. This is apparently how she spends alone time of her own; watching TV and counting down the hours before she has to go work again. She never has to go in on Saturday, but will apparently be gone tomorrow afternoon. Guess that means I'll have the house to myself for a while.

The weight of the day begins to crash onto my shoulders like a waterfall. I say goodnight to my aunt and head back up to my room, throwing myself onto my bed without a second thought. The Velvet Key and my wallet are on the nightstand beside me as I slip out of consciousness.

**{~}**

New York City. Dead as night. Nobody is there. No cars, no people, no sounds, only minimal light. The skyscrapers, normally illuminated with bright lights, now tower above me like monsters. My footsteps feel light and alien as I trudge down the street, looking for answers. The moonlight casts eerie glows through the corners of the street. As I walk farther forward, a shape begins to appear in the darkness. The figure emerges. She's a woman, young but old at the same time. The woman seems familiar to me, as if I've known her all my life.

Because I have.

"Mom…?"

My footsteps become harder and more forceful against the tar of the road. I throw myself into a full-on sprint, but the road seems to be getting longer the farther I go. No matter what I do, I can't catch up to her. Deep down, I know why I'm trying to reach her. Tears start to well up with the knowledge that if I don't reach her, I won't be able to save her.

A screeching of tires echo through the hollow streets. My running becomes more frantic, my screaming of her name turning into inane wailing. I can see her face, full of pain and sadness, as if she's saying she's sorry.

I stop dead in my tracks and fall to my knees as a taxi cab comes hurtling down the street, slamming into the figure of my mother dead-on.

Upon impact, my body springs up out of bed. Not the bed in North Dakota, but the bed in my apartment in New York. Outside the window, multiple stories down, I can see the bustling midday city. Cars are honking at each other, people are screaming.

I hate it.

My door creaks and a voice calls out to me.

"Tyson?"

I can't believe my ears. I turn around to see my mother standing in my bedroom, her young beauty shining. I do what every young man's instinct would be upon seeing his mother after witnessing such a horrific event – I rush up to her and embrace her. Her arms wrap around me, pulling me in tight.

"I had such a bad nightmare…"

"Don't worry, honey. Stay with me, and you'll be alright."

_Stay…stay with her…yeah, I can stay with her…_

The ringing from before reappears, this time so strong the world around me vibrates.

_(Stop. It's a trick.)_

The voice is unfamiliar to me, but sounds so real I realize how hazy everything else has been. The honking of a horn down below snaps me out of it. I pull away from my mother, her look of worry and confusion causing my heart to churn in my chest. This is all wrong, but upsetting her feels awful at the same time. The conflicting emotions are making me want to throw up.

"Tyson…don't you want to stay with me? Where we'll be happy?"

_…this isn't right._

I back away. The further I get, the smaller the room feels and the angrier my mother becomes.

"I said stay with me," she demands. "You'll stay, won't you?"

_(Run. Now.)_

_But there's nowhere to-…_

The window.

I can't believe this idea is sticking, but I step back closer to the window with my hand stretched in its direction.

"Stop!" my 'mother' commands.

In one quick motion, my window opens, my mother leaps for me, and I throw myself into the air, falling into the abyss. The street rushes up to greet me, but caves in and reveals inky blackness.

**_Thud_**

**{~}**

_"G-gah!"_

I snap up, sweating, breathing heavily.

_A nightmare…it was just a nightmare…_

I check my phone's clock after recomposing myself. One in the morning. I kick off my sheets and strip down to my boxers to cool off and I stare into the ceiling, ignoring the shapes of my furniture in the darkness of my room.

I don't sleep for the rest of the night.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

_-Sunday, August 4th, 2013-_

Daybreak. I don't remember when I fell asleep again, but it clearly wasn't for long, because now I feel like my body is superglued to my bed. I just flat out do not want to get up. I lay in bed for a while longer until my phone's ringtone snaps me out of my grogginess.

"Hu-…hello?" I blurt out, rubbing my eyes.

"Hi Tyson," Aunt Joanne says on the other line. "S-sorry, did I wake you up?"

"No, technically not," I tell her in honesty.

"Oh. Well, anyways, I was going to wait to leave until you were awake, but my boss told me to come in immediately, so I had to go. Sorry about that. There's still leftover pizza from last night if you're hungry."

_Pizza? Why would I eat pizza for breakfast?_

My phone clock reads 2 PM.

_Mother of God, I slept past noon._

"Yeah, alright. Thanks."

"Why not go explore the neighborhood on your last day off?" she suggests. "There's a bike in the garage. You might need to refill the tires, though."

I decide that to be a fantastic idea. Maybe some fresh air and exercise is what I need. To make it even better, it's slightly cloudy out, so it seems it'll be more cool than humid.

"I might just do that," I reply, now sitting up in my bed.

"Alright then. I'll be home later tonight."

"Mm'kay. See you then."

_-Click-_

_Not one for goodbyes, huh?_

I wash up and once again put on my summer outfit. I heat up some pizza, making sure to save a couple slices for later tonight, and chow them down within seconds. I'm surprised I'm this hungry. As Aunt Joanne said, there's an old bike inside the garage just leaning up against the wall. It looks a little small, but it's no big deal. It's in good condition and its dark blue paint is still strikingly clean. She was right, though; the tires are almost entirely flat. I fish out a bike pump from the boxes of crap scattered throughout the garage and ready up the vehic-…machi-…

_What even _are _bikes?_

Nevertheless, I am now riding through the neighborhood at full speed. As predicted, the weather is downright perfect; the cool air is flying past my face, blowing my hair around and keeping me sweat-free. The best part is how much room I have to explore. I would rarely get this huge of an area to bike in when I lived in New York. Most of the time, all I had was a park. This sense of freedom makes me feel…well, free.

_Screw the neighborhood. I'm gonna trek this whole town._

I take off out of the development and out into the street. Because of how close the airport is, there's a decent amount of traffic, but the majority of those people probably don't even live in the town. It's like Gode is just a launchpad for everyone's vacations.

The worn-out end of town approaches, and I decide to check out the strip mall there. Small family-owned places, mostly, one of them being a bookstore. Out of sheer curiosity, I decide to check it out. I put the bike up against the wall, silently cursing myself for not getting some sort of lock so I wouldn't have to explain to my aunt why her bike got stolen. Walking into the bookstore felt like getting slapped in the face with an old sock.

_Smells like rotting piss in here…_

It's incredibly dark inside the store, and what little light seeps through the windows up in the rafters illuminates dust specks that dance around the massive bookcases. Speaking of books, the books in here look centuries old. People must never come in here, either, because the shelves are literally overflowing with unsold books. Opened cardboard boxes are scattered across the floor each with their own torrent of novels flowing out of them.

"Is someone there?" I call out. The room is so full of crap that my voice sounds muffled and weak.

After a moment of quiet, I assume the owner is out or in the bathroom. As I turn to leave…

_"H-holy shi-!"_

"What do you want."

As if from thin air, an old hunched man with a cane and massive beard has appeared behind me. His tiny eyes squint at me with a new form of distain.

"For you to not give me a heart attack!"

The geezer doesn't really appreciate the humor, though to be honest, I wasn't trying to be funny.

"Youth. You have no place here. These are archives for aged ones. Out with you."

"But…"

"Out." As he says this, he shoves the end of his cane into my chest.

And that's when the wooden cracks in the cane start to glow blue.

The man's tiny eyes go as wide as they can. His entire demeanor seems to change.

"You…" he says. "You're a-…"

I stare at him for a moment.

"…can you move your…wand…thing?"

The man clears his throat and complies. He makes a slight motion with his hand for me to follow him as he scuttles deeper into the store. I quickly look back at the door. I could leave right this very second, but something's telling me to go after him. Either my curiosity has gotten the best of me, or I've officially snapped.

I follow the man and the two of us end up in some sort of backorder room that I swear is even stuffier than the main lobby. He hands me his cane, which, again, glows blue upon contact, and he begins shuffling through piles of books before finding the one he wanted. It's a dusty leather-bound book, with a large locket keeping it closed. We swap our items and he leans in close, far closer than I ever wanted anyone to get to me.

"Give this to him when you see him next. Tell him I'm sorry it took so long."

"Who're you talking abou-"

"Go. Leave me be."

_Oh, great, just what I wanted. To be handed random crap by some old pedophile and shoved out the door._

"But I don't even know what this-!"

I'm cut off by the slamming and locking of the store's wooden door.

"Nice to meet you, too…" I murmur to myself.

**{~}**

"Why won't you open?!"

I had made the trip back home and was now attempting to pry the lock off this book, but no matter how hard I try, whether it be with a hammer or pliers, it just won't open. The metal won't even bend. Either I'm weaker than I thought, or this is more of that unexplainable stuff that's been happening lately.

_Why couldn't I have moved somewhere else? Literally anywhere else?_

I decide that there's nothing else I can do with this book for now besides look at it. I brush off the excess amount of dust and reveal the front is decorated with…a pentagram?

_Okay, I need to get rid of this._

I lightly toss it into the fireplace and smile at my handiwork. Or, I try to, at least. My smile fades as a few minutes pass.

_Why isn't it burning. Oh my god, it isn't burning. Holy shit._

With various tools by the fireplace, I manage to fish out the hellspawn of a book and examine it more closely, and yup, it didn't burn at all. The entire thing is unscathed. Slumping onto the ground, I drop the book and grab my face, the stress ready to make me outright explode. This kind of stuff shouldn't be happening to me. Not like I did anything to deserve it.

I take a deep breath, say, "Screw it," and take the book back up to my room, giving it a home in my nightstand drawer.

_This town's full of psychos._

**{~}**

A couple hours pass by and I realize that I've been sitting on the couch eating Maria's brownies and watching the news practically all day.

_…eh, I exercised. I earned it._

"And now for the weather," a decently attractive weatherwoman states. "Looks like the week is going to start off a bit cloudy and we might see some rain throughout the middle of the week, but as we reach the tail end of it, the sun should start to reappear, and next Sunday could possibly be sunny once again."

"Tch. These guys are never right," I tell myself as I down another brownie. There could be truth behind her words, though; the clouds from this morning never let up, even into the dark of night.

"…-nd the front should subside. Now back to your anchors."

A male news anchor now appears on the screen. "Thanks Bailey. Now for the top story of the day. As we reported earlier, it seems as though Bethany Jones, a morning talk show host for a local radio station in the small town of Gode, North Dakota, was found unmoving in her bed this afternoon after her coworkers grew suspicious of her not showing up for work earlier this morning."

_Why does that sound familiar…?_

"It appears as though she's still alive, but is not responding. She had shown no signs of trauma previously, and doctors are baffled. The police have been called in to perform an investigation by the request of her family, but it's unsure if they'll take the case, as there are no signs of foul play, either."

_Oh, now I remember. Yesterday…that was the lady on the radio._

I reach for another brownie, but find the plate empty. Looks like I'm going to have to explain that to Aunt Joanne later. Speaking of her, she still hasn't come home, and it's nearing ten o'clock. She did say she'd be out late, but it's starting to feel like waiting is a lost cause. The news turned to a relatively frustrating topic, so now's as good a time as ever to call it a night.

Besides, I've got school tomorrow.

**{~}**

_-Monday, August 5th, 2013-_

Another day, another lack of Aunt Joanne. I have a feeling I'll be alone a lot.

In her stead is a pile of school supplies, all in a neat pile on the kitchen counter. A note beside them reads, "_Sorry I couldn't see you off. Have a good first day!_" and a little heart drawing beside it. Appreciating the sentiment, I hurriedly pack the same backpack I used to move in with the folders, pencils, etcetera. The time is currently six forty-five. I've got time to kill.

Snatching a breakfast pastry from the pantry and savoring the flavor, I take one last look at myself in the mirror. My acne is entirely gone, my hair is evenly combed ever so slightly to the left, and my denim jeans, black rubber bracelet, and red t-shirt, my standard school clothes for the warmer weather, are all neat and ironed…more or less. Double-checking my belongings reassures me that I have my phone, its charger, my earbuds, wallet, all my school supplies…the key…

A silver sedan approaches the driveway of the house and screeches to a halt. I finish the pastry and dash to the car, opening the right back door.

"'Ey, dude!" a boy in the passenger seat says to me. A sophomore, most likely. "Hop in!"

"Thanks," I mutter as I take my spot in the back seat. Next to me is Maria, looking more tired than shy this time. Now she's got on baby blue shorts and a baggy off-white t-shirt. A necklace with smooth coral blue teardrop-shaped gems hangs from her neck. I assume this to be what she usually wears this time of year. "Hello again," I say to her with a smile.

Snapping out of her daze, she looks to me with a smile of her own and grunts a greeting back.

"Don't take the silence personally," another brother to Maria's left, seemingly a sophomore as well, tells me with a chuckle. "She's not a morning person." The other sophomore brother laughs with him.

_Well, that's one thing we have in common._

The eldest brother sitting in the driver's seat, presumably a senior, kicks the car into gear and bolts back down the driveway, heading for the exit to the neighborhood at a speed that should really get him pulled over.

"So who's your boyfriend there?" the senior says.

_Her what?!_

"M-my wh-what?!" Maria's suddenly alert and awake…and flustered. "He's-…we-…w-we're not…"

"Dude, we just met," I tell him, trying to save her from her cheeks getting any redder. If it does that, she could make me another batch of brownies by throwing batter in her face.

The senior just smirks to himself. "Whatever, man."

Sophomore number two, for the rest of the car ride, just keeps nudging Maria and asking her about me, despite her quiet protests. Sophomore number one tries talking to me about the crazy car he's planning on buying when he gets older, but I'm not listening. I'm half focused on keeping myself from punching sophomore number two and trying to not go into total panic mode from senior's batshit crazy driving. We eventually reach a school, but it's not the high school. 'Sophomore' number two leaps out of the car and goes into a sprint into the school.

_Holy crap, that annoying little brat is an eighth grader._

We arrive to Gode High School in record time (whether or not that's a good thing is debatable) before anyone can pester Maria again. Senior and Sophomore both get out and walk off into the school, leaving us two by our lonesome in the parking lot, which snakes through the school's surprisingly beautiful front lawn.

"I'm sorry about them…" she apologizes.

I shrug it off. "No big deal. Brothers are brothers, right?"

That response almost makes her more downtrodden. "Hmm…I guess so…"

Knowing that if I try harder I'm just gonna piss her off, I derail the subject. "So, what class do you have first?"

She flips through the first binder in the pile she's been holding in her arms and comes across her schedule. "AP Math," she points out.

_Geez, AP as a freshman?_

"You like math?"

"Sort of," she answers. "I like the algebra, but certain subjects just don't mesh well with me."

I've noticed that her speech has become a little more fluid as our conversation goes on, only to immediately go back to stuttering and mumbling when we walk through the school doors. She examines her school map before saying goodbye to me and walking off.

The inside is mostly brown brick with light white floor tile. The school's colors, which are exemplified in the "Welcome Students!" banners on the ceiling, are black, white, and gold. A little bland, but the sports teams will look badass. There aren't too many students in the hallways yet, but they could flood up any minute now with new arrivals. I take the time to find my first classroom – American Literature.

_At least I'm starting off with something remotely interesting._

Walking into the classroom I immediately spot a couple of students. One glasses-wearing girl is sitting in the very front row organizing her stuff, two guys and one girl are sitting on the desks, chatting it up in the middle of the room, and in the very back row with his head down is Emile, who's wearing khaki shorts and a white t-shirt with a gray silhouette of an electric guitar across the chest. The teacher is nowhere to be found.

I walk up to Emile and nudge his elbow.

"'Ey, dude. Rise and shine!" I joke with him.

He groans and lifts his head. "What the hell do you-…" he stops upon recognizing me. "O-oh, hey! It's you! 'Sup, man?" The two of us fistbump before I take a seat in the desk in front of him.

"Not much," I tell him. "Pretty tired, though."

Emile chuckles. "Well, yeah. It's a cloudy Monday. Of course everyone's gonna be dead tired!"

I shrug. "True. But it's the beginning of the school year. You'd think people would be…I dunno, excited? Even a little?"

"Excited?" Emile looks at me like my skin turned green. "It's school for God's sake. It's the time of the year where you have, like, _no_ freedom at all."

"Well geez, if you look at it that way…"

"What other way is there to look at it?" Emile smiling lets me know he's just messing with me. "Did'ya see the place? Looks like a damn prison."

_Well, he's not wrong._

"I'd rather look at school like the start of something new," I say. "Y'know, as a chance to meet new people."

Emile chuckles again. "You're friggin' crazy, you know that?"

Suddenly the school bell goes off. I look to the rest of the classroom and see that the rest of the students had shown up, the last couple stragglers rushing through the door trying not to be late and ultimately failing. The teacher, a relatively young woman, stands at the front of the class and begins calling off the attendance sheet.

"Ellie Bordeaux…"

"Here."

"Tyler Clark…"

"Here."

The teacher continues down the list until she eventually reaches me.

"Tyson Rayne…"

"Here," I pronounce as I raise my hand.

"Emile Truman…"

…

"Emile Truman?"

I turn around and see Emile has passed out again, this time with his head propped up with his forearm. Thinking fast, I swipe his arm out from under him, causing him to faceplant his desk and wake up.

"_Snort_-…huh…wh-wha-? Oh, h-here!"

The class laughs slightly, the teacher included. Emile shoots me a dirty look, but I just smile at him.

He'll laugh about it later. …hopefully.

**{~}**

The next three classes pass by somewhat quickly. Second period marketing has a male teacher, this one being pretty nice and promises many creative projects. Third period is music tech, which will include some minor music theory taught by another male teacher. Not exactly happy about having to relearn music theory, but I'll need to refresh my memory on stuff like this if I ever plan on picking guitar up again in the future. The other students in the class sure seem like the creative type, one of them being a guy with an anime-themed shoulder bag and a girl with black hair in a large raised ponytail. Fourth period is history, taught by yet another male teacher. Contrary to most history classes I've been in, this guy seems really fun to have as a teacher. Lunch took place before fourth period, but I couldn't find anyone I knew, so I sat alone with some real shitty pizza. Overall, so far, so good.

As I'm leaving history and I trudge into the surging crowd, I look at my next period. The word 'Physics' stares back at me from the sheet.

_Aw, dammit._

I walk into the classroom, this being one built for science classes with black counters and stools instead of standard desks. I scan the room looking for anyone I know, despite the last few classes crushing my hopes of having another one with Emile or one with-…

"Hey, Maria!" I greet the blonde as I walk up to her seat.

She nearly jumps at seeing me, her blush once again returning. "T-Tyson!"

"Mind if I sit next to you?" I ask with a smile. She shakes her head and I take my seat to her right.

_These stools are murder on my back._

"Physics and AP Math, huh?" I say to her. "And only a freshman, too. You must be some sort of prodigy."

She somehow manages to blush harder. "I-it's…well, I guess so," she stammers out. "At the rate I'm going, my counselor says I could graduate after Junior year and skip my Senior year entirely."

I notice a thick sketchbook in her pile of stuff. "You draw?" I question as I point at the wire-bound book.

"Oh, uh…yeah," she replies.

"Mind if I…?"

She shakes her head slightly and pulls the book out from her stuff, flipping it open and showing me her drawings.

_Good God, these are amazing…_

The book is full of wonderfully-shaded drawings of people and scenery, all of them looking so realistic I swear I could jump into the pages like portals.

"These are _really_ good…" I tell her. "I'd never be able to draw like this."

She smiles sheepishly. "It just takes a little practice. Oh," she exclaims as she flips to another page, this one being a close-up of a girl with flowing hair and closed eyes. "I've submitted this one to a portrait contest. I don't know if it's been accepted yet, but I hope I'll hear back soon."

"Wouldn't be surprised if you won," I honestly tell her. "Never seen anything so realistic done in pencil before."

She's once again become comfortable talking to me. Hopefully her attitude stays like that.

I examine the room to see who else is in this class. Nobody else really stands out, but a couple people I've seen but haven't talked to in my other classes are in this one with me as well. Maria is to my left, but to my right is the same glasses-wearing boy I saw with the girl in the yellow dress at the strip mall on my first day here. He's sleeping the same way Emile had this morning when the teacher called him.

This teacher, an older male, begins calling out roll. Eventually he reaches a name that nobody answers to, but the other students look over to the glasses kid next to me.

**_Thud_**

"H-here!" he shouts as he lifts his reddened head up from the table.

This is my new favorite thing to do to people.

**{~}**

"My face still hurts."

"Dude, I said I was sorry."

Emile and I are now in the last period of the day – Math. My previous class, driver's ed., kind of just flew by. Electives tend to do that.

"Hah, I know, man. I'm just guilt tripping you."

The rest of the class rushes by, with the only female teacher in my schedule except for first period introducing the class with basic information like where to turn in their homework.

Halfway through the class, the clouds burst with a torrent of rain.

_Hope it clears up before I get off the bus. The stop's way down the road._

As the final bell of the day rings, my headache from yesterday seems to return, ringing and all. Emile takes notice of my rubbing my temple and asks me if I'm alright.

_(Magician.)_

_For the love of-…_

"Yeah, I'm fine," I lie. "Probably coming down with something."

"Hmm…" he grunts. "…well, hey, get better quick, alright? Was thinking we could hang out sometime this week."

_That was fast._

"Oh, sure. I'll let you know when I'm up for it."

"Sweet! Lemme get your number real quick."

The two of us swap phone numbers and go our separate ways at the bus pickup. Boarding my bus, I find the inside to be real musty due to the rain. During the whole ride home, I struggle to stay awake.

**{~}**

**_Slam_**

And now I'm home, standing by the front door, completely and utterly soaked. I blame karma.

"You're hom-…oh. Crap," Aunt Joanne says as I walk in. "U-um…sorry about that."

"It's fine," I say as my skin twitches under the clothes. I distain having wet clothes. The momentary adrenaline of running home begins to pass and the tiredness settles in again. "I'm gonna take a nap."

"A-alright…" she responds, obviously feeling bad. To be honest, I _am_ a little upset. If she was home, she could've picked me up.

Whatever. Water under the bridge. …or on my clothes. Both, really.

I dry off in the bathroom before switching my clothes out for sweatpants and a t-shirt and flop onto my bed. With nothing but the sound of rain reaching my ears, I drop into a comfortable sleep.

**{~}**

I'm still lying on my back, but a rigid cold surface is underneath me. I'm not in my bed anymore. My eyes crack open as I force myself to stand. Doing so seems much more difficult than it should be, probably due to the intense pressure of the room. It feels as though something is shoving me down.

Looking around, I determine that I'm in a school. Not Gode, though. It's my old school in New York. The walls are painted black and blue, and the whole place just seems so much more homey, yet demented at the same time.

_Another nightmare?!_

I hear a noise coming from the darkness. No ceiling lights are on so the school's only slightly lit by the moonlight coming through the windows, but the far reaches of the hallways seem darker than they should be, as if they'll swallow me up-…okay, so they might actually do that. Black tendrils of darkness lash out from the hallway, grabbing my ankles and pulling me to the ground.

"_Sh-shit_-**OOMPH!**"

I grab for the floor and manage to hold on to the cracks in the tiles. The shadowy arms have a firm grip and tug me towards the cloud of blackness behind me, but I refuse to let them take me. I'm not going down without a fight, even if this is some crazy dream.

It's then that I see a shape appear at the other end of the hall in the same way my mother had in my nightmare the other night. It's a girl, my height, with striking eyes and long brunette hair. She's in a beautiful dress covered in flowers. I'd know that face anywhere, despite not seeing her for the longest time.

"Anna…"

Unlike the other night, however, the figure – my ex-girlfriend from New York – calls out to me.

"Tyson…"

The tendrils reach out for her as well, pulling her in the opposite direction. I can hear her scream, but alongside it is another scream, one I can't recognize. I claw at the floor, pulling as hard as I can, but the tendrils are stronger. I manage to kick one off, giving myself some leverage. Anything to use to my advantage. I run forward, trying to reach Anna.

_"Anna!"_

She screams again, this time with more fear than I've ever heard coming from a person. Another shadowy arm grabs my wrist, only for me to get a surge of adrenaline.

"Get…_off of me!"_

I rip the arm out of the pool of darkness with my strength alone, and stomp out the remaining arms clutching my ankles. With all my strength, I rush forward down the hallway, diving for Anna's hands and tug hard.

"I'm not letting you die here!"

"T-Tyson?!"

"_Come on! Don't give up!"_

"What's going on?!"

"That doesn't matter! Just help me out here!"

The two of us struggle as hard as we possibly can, but the wall of darkness behind me has shifted, moving closer and closer to the both of us. The arms reach out again, one grabbing me by the neck and another by the right calf. All I can do I pull harder on Anna, but the arms are pulling on her just as hard.

"Tyson, I can't…"

_"Stop it! Don't say that!"_

A single tear streams down her face. No matter how hard I'm trying to save her, she's given up hope. She's finished. The desperation and knowledge that I can't win this fight seeps in and I start wailing and crying again. I want to save her. I want to help her. I don't want to give up. But I don't seem to have a choice. With one last pull, I'm dragged into the darkness, my grip ripped from hers, and Anna is pulled into her own cloud of black, blood-curling cries echoing through the emptiness.

The darkness fades away to reveal the school courtyard, only the walls are seeping with blood and the tendrils, reaching out from the ground, still have a firm hold on me. The sky is cloudy and dark, but everything is somehow still illuminated in light blue.

**_"It's your fault."_**

"H-huh?!"

I look up to see a large burly figure entirely made of a dark purple pulsating shadowy mass. In his right arm, holding her by the throat, is Anna, only she's limp and entirely a crystalline blue. Her eyes are a plain soulless white.

**_"You did this to her." _**The voice tells me. It seems to be coming from the figure, and seems vaguely familiar, but terribly distorted. **_"It was your choice. You brought this hell on her."_**

"What're you talking about?!" I scream. "_Let her go, dammit!_"

**_"It's too late," _**it continues. **_"You were offered bliss and you chose to escape. You made the conscious decision to abandon a happier place. Now you'll experience true purgatory for such actions. You'll suffer for it, and for all the other crimes you've committed."_**

"Wh-what the hell…" I can't believe my ears. He's spouting total bullshit if he's talking about last night's nightmare. That wasn't bliss; it was downright insulting. And 'brought this hell on her'? What does that even mean? "What are you talking about?! I wasn't the one that hurt her! It was a huge mistake!"

**_"Lies. All of it. You know the truth. You, deep down, know of the evils you committed. You knew full well the potential consequences. No matter of words or actions can repair the damages you caused. This is where you die, Tyson Rayne."_**

The figure approaches me, dropping the figure of Anna on the ground, parts of it shattering to bits against the concrete. My stomach churns at the sight.

_This can't be happening…I'm gonna die here…_

The ringing goes off in my ears again, so deafening it's like a gunshot right by my head. Random gibberish voices cycle through my brain, all of them screaming at me. If this keeps going, I'm going to go completely postal. I'm on the brink of insanity.

As if it was cycling through languages, the voices settle on one to speak. It plays in my mind, speaking strongly and clearly.

**_I…am thou…_**

_Wh-?!_

**_Thou…art I…_**

**_From the sea of thy soul, I call out to thee…_**

**_Open thine eyes and awaken what is within…_**

A source of warmth appears before me. I look up and open my eyes as directed. I see floating in front of me a blue playing card, with violet flames circling it. It's spinning slowly, radiating a crazy amount of power and casting a cool glow across my face. The backside has the same symbol as on the Velvet Key, while the other side is a blank silver.

I reach my hand out, my open palm facing upwards towards the card, as if I know what I'm doing, like it's second nature. My mouth opens, a single word deep in my throat.

"Per…"

The flames on the card glow brighter.

"So…"

A ring of energy circles me, the dark arms within range disintegrating.

"Na…"

The large figure steps back, clearly afraid.

_I'd be, too._

With a final burst of strength, I crush the card with my hand, energy exploding from my body and the card shattering like glass. A loud yell from within my stomach bursts forth, echoing in the emptiness in the realm of my dream. I feel…powerful. This newfound power brings me to my feet. I notice that the explosion of energy from within me was just that – an explosion. It completely leveled the walls of the school around me, leaving just me and the shadowy figure, who was still keeping his distance.

**_I am Ixion…_**

**_He who was banished to the Underworld for wrongdoings…_**

_(To hell with that, though.)_

The voice was now within my head, talking directly to me.

_(I'm not gonna let someone keep me down like that.)_

I look above me, shocked at what I see. It's a tall man in a fancy black business suit and tie. His left hand is placed on the knot of the tie, and his right hand is holding a sword. A metal clasp is on his left ankle, a chain leading from it to a large floating metal ball. Fire erupts from it, emitting an orange light among the blue.

_(Good job on summoning me, kid. Just in time, too.)_

He drops his sword from above me, letting it land in my hand. It's the perfect weight, with a long blade and a wooden handle.

The entity, who calls himself Ixion, readjusts his tie and his thick black sunglasses. His slicked-back blonde hair slightly waves in the energy flying around the air.

_(We gonna kick some ass, or what?)_

I flash a maniacal grin. I wanted to fight, didn't I?

The blue flames subside, but my strength remains.

_"COME ON!" _I scream as I rush for the Shadow.

It quickly comes to its senses and reels back its left fist, ready to punch. I leap out of the way and use the momentum to bounce off my heel and thrust my blade deep into the right shoulder. It screams out in pain and throws me off if its body. I grunt as I hit the hard floor, bouncing multiple times. Normally extreme force would knock you out of a dream, but this is all too real. Somehow, though, I'm barely hurt, when something like that would give any normal person a headache.

Clearly, I'm not normal anymore.

"Ixion! Agi!" I yell out, somehow recalling the name of something that I knew would help me.

The floating figure of Ixion snaps his fingers, and a blast of fire erupts around the Shadow, who flies backwards. The force of the blast sends my sword out of its shoulder and into the air, to which I run after and catch before it hits the ground. Ixion disappears into a blue mist after performing the fire spell.

_(Call me whenever you need me, kid. It's my job, after all.)_

Before the Shadow could get to its feet, I go into a full sprint, leap into the air, and thrust the sword downward in an icepick grip straight into its heart.

**_"AAAAUGH!"_**

I pull the sword back out, adjusting my grip and reaching behind me for a wide swing to its neck. The horizontal cut brings forth a spray of black and red liquid, presumably its blood. It once again grabs me and throws me. It's weakening, but it isn't over yet.

As if by will alone, Ixion's card, which now has a picture of him on the side that was previously blank, floats down in front of me. I backhand it with my left hand, breaking it, and Ixion reappears before me.

_(You catch on fast.)_

_I've been told._

"Cleave!"

Ixion spawns another sword, one identical to mine, and rushes the Shadow at a surprising speed for one who's chained down. It slices diagonally across the whole of the Shadow, and before it can retaliate, Ixion vanishes once more.

The Shadow is now leaning on one knee, in pain and unable to move.

_"I'm done with this!" _I scream as I run towards the Shadow and plunge my blade directly into its scalp. It lets out a roar of pain, and dissolves into a pool of the blood. I stand there, hunched over, breathing heavily.

Even though I'm dreaming, I feel my body is worn out. I close my eyes and drop to the floor. The world around me begins to disappear, fading to white. I feel my body waking up, but in a way that feels pure as opposed to dropping into an abyss like last time.

I feel good.

_Tyson Rayne's new power places freedom within reach._

_He has awakened to the Persona Ixion,_

_The façade used to overcome one's hardships._

**{~}**

My eyes snap open. Above me is the ceiling of my bedroom, the fan casting shadows throughout. On my nightstand is a lukewarm plate of steak. Seems I slept through dinner.

I grab my face and rub my eyes, still recovering from my nightmare-…no, it wasn't a nightmare. It was too real. I felt it all. That new power…

_Persona…_

It's mine now.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

_-Tuesday, August 6th, 2013-_

"…and then I beat the shit out of it."

"Dude," Emile says as he leans back in his seat. "Why can't my dreams be as badass as that?!"

First thing I said to Emile as I entered first period was what I experienced the night before. Of course, I left out a few details, mainly about Anna and how I almost died for real. Even with that information cut out, Emile still seems riled up.

I shrug at his remark. "Maybe I'm just cooler."

"Oh, c'mon, that's not fair," Emile scoffs.

"I'm kidding, man," I say with a laugh.

The teacher, Mrs. Evans, walks into the room as the bell rings.

"Alright everyone; take your seats, please," she asks of us. "It'll take me a while to learn your names, so I'm going to have to do roll call the hard way again. Just let me know if I butcher your last name."

The class chuckles slightly at her remark, and thankfully, my story kept Emile awake long enough to hear his name called. Mrs. Evans has us open our books to read an excerpt from _Uncle Tom's Cabin, _a story about slavery written by a woman sometime around the American Civil War period. She begins asking questions after we're done reading it, one of them directed to Emile.

"Why was the publishing of this book so important?"

"…shit, dude, I didn't actually read any of this!" Emile curses under his breath. "Help me out here!" He stalls for time by saying, "Um…" out loud.

"It helped the public realize how bad slavery was," I say to him. He relays the answer back to Mrs. Evans.

"Correct," she applauds. "But next time, try answering it on your own. I'm not stupid."

The other students laugh again.

"Dammit…" Emile dejectedly says to himself.

As class ends, I stop Emile before he runs off to his next class. "Hey, we gonna hang out this week or what?"

"Oh, right…" he says. He almost seems apologetic. "There's something going on at home, so I can't tonight. I might be able to tomorrow."

I nod in agreement. "That's fine. See you in math, then."

Emile nods and heads down the hall, leaving me with my music.

**{~}**

"Welcome home!" Aunt Joanne says as I walk through the door. "Hey, I was just about to go to the mall for some clothes. You wanna come with me?"

_I could use a new video game…_

_(You've got your priorities straight, huh?)_

_Shut up._

Oh, did I not mention? Ixion's been talking to me virtually all day. Apparently, Personas have influence even outside of dreams; I can have entire conversations with the guy. This is taking self-reflection to an entirely different level.

"Yeah, sure," I say as I place my backpack on the floor by the stairs.

"Lemme just change out of my work clothes first," she says.

Roughly twenty minutes later, we arrive at the outlet mall. Aunt Joanne heads for a clothing store, while I tell her I'm going to look around for a bit.

"Alright," she says. "Don't get lost."

"No promises," I call back as I walk down the pathway.

Not many people from school are here today, which is to be expected of a Tuesday. The sky is still covered in a blanket of clouds and the ground is wet from fresh rain. It hadn't rained since noon, but the air still feels thick with moisture. Some people are walking around with their umbrellas out. I quietly laugh at them, considering that it isn't actually raining. Not yet, anyway.

I walk into the game store, and a bell goes off letting the employees know I'm here. Music from a popular series is playing over the loudspeakers, and a couple kids are sitting by the front door trading data between their portable games. The three employees behind the counter, despite hearing the bell, are deep in conversation. I examine the racks of console games, checking out the back covers and price tags.

"You hear about that radio host?" a male employee asks the other two.

"Yeah, I did. Isn't she dead?" another one responds, this one a girl.

"What? No," the first employee says. "Why would she be dead?"

"Because the doctors treating her said her pulse is weaker every time they check on her," the third worker, another male, says. "It's like she's just fading away."

The female shivers. "That's just creepy…what caused it?"

"They have no idea," guy one tells her.

_(Hey, kid.)_

I jump at hearing Ixion's voice again. He's got a tendency to talk with no warning at all. If he keeps doing this in public, I'll end up looking like a complete psychopath.

_Geez…what do you want?_

_(Look up.)_

_…what am I supposed to be looking at?_

_(Window. Across the street.)_

I follow his directions, eventually finding the antique store across the parking lot. Next to it is the sub shop Emile worked at, but between them…

Putting the game case in my hand back on its shelf, I exit the store and approach the alleyway. Placed in between the two stores is a glowing blue door decorated with gold markings, one that isn't connected to any buildings whatsoever.

_What is that?_

After a quick look around, it seems as if nobody else notices the door. Either that or they're choosing to ignore it. Finding the former more likely, I walk closer to it. It's just far enough into the alley that nobody would see me if I go inside unless they were purposefully stalking me.

Something inside my left pocket begins to radiate heat, almost to the point of discomfort. I reach in and pull out the Velvet Key. Realizing what this means, my heart begins to pound.

Maybe now everything will make sense.

_Click…_

_Squeeeeeak…_

My vision fades to white as I step inside.

**{~}**

"Welcome to the Velvet Room…"

_…oh no._

It's like I've traveled back in time. The place is exactly as I remember it. The violet colors, the bar, the piano, the old guy, and the blonde lady in a blue trench coat-like dress…actually, that last one's new.

"I see you have awakened to your Persona," Igor points out. "I must congratulate you. It occurred sooner than I anticipated."

"Persona…" I repeat. "What _is _a Persona?"

"Think of it as a kind of mask," Igor responds with a laugh. "One that you wear in the face of hardships. It is a manifestation of your inner psyche, one powered by the strength of one's own heart."

"So my heart literally has a mind of its own."

Igor chuckles. "That sure is an odd way of putting it. But, in a sense, yes. Ixion was the one who headed your call, I see. Are you aware of his origins? Ixion is a man who had faced many hardships, becoming shunned by the general public. Zeus took pity, however, and offered him refuge on Olympus. When Ixion began lusting for his wife, even going as far as to sleep with a duplicate of her and impregnating her, Zeus banished Ixion to the depths of Tartarus, left to burn."

_(Guilty as charged.)_

"Hey, Igor…" I speak up, wanting to know some things from him. "Can I ask you a couple questions? These last few days have been…well…"

"Confusing?" Igor finishes the sentence for me. "I understand. This sudden change in your life is expected to raise questions. Ask away. I will answer to the best of my abilities."

"First off, I've been hearing voices in my head when I look at people. It usually just says one word, but I don't know what they mean."

"Ah, yes…I assume you've heard words like, 'Star', 'Tower', or 'Magician'…"

"Yeah, that last one," I tell Igor. "I've heard 'Magician' before. What do those words mean?"

"Have you not heard of the Arcana?" Igor questions.

"The traditional deck of tarot cards holds twenty-two numbered cards, each of them called an 'Arcana'," the lady at the far end of the bar tells me. The way she talks is rather matter-of-fact, making her sound somewhat bored. Her wavy blonde hair reaches her shoulder blades and her eyes are-…holy crap, they're yellow. "Everyone has an Arcana that represents their personality. You, for example, are of the Fool Arcana."

"Oh, gee, thanks."

"You misunderstand," Igor tells me. "The Fool is of great importance. Its number is zero – empty, but full of potential. Being of the Fool Arcana also grants you the ability of the Wild Card."

"Wild Card?"

"Most individuals who are granted or gain the use of a Persona are limited to only one," he says. "However, because you are a Wild Card, you have the rare ability to wield a multitude of Personas at once."

"Every Persona has an Arcana as well," the blonde lady continues. "And this is where Social Links come into play."

"You see, the services I can provide to you, as stated in our contract, include fusing Personas together to create brand new ones. Fused Personas are more powerful than the original ones, but you can make them even stronger by creating bonds. The stronger the bond, the stronger the Persona. This process is known as a 'Social Link'."

"So I have to get closer to people for my own personal gain?" I ask. "That doesn't exactly sound fair. In fact, it makes me sort of an asshole."

"That's one way to look at it," Igor replies. "But a negative attitude such as that will make it more difficult to attain a Social Link. It can only become a true Social Link if you or the individual you are bonding with feels a genuine friendship. However, keep in mind that forging an unbreakable bond with someone is a difficult path to walk, and that you may reach barriers in preventing the furthering of your bond. Thankfully, utilizing the Personas you have at your disposal can make this journey much easier."

"That's just it, I only have Ixion," I state. "I can't fuse Personas or switch to a new one. He's all I've got."

_(You say that like it's a bad thing.)_

"Do not worry," Igor tells me. "That will take care of itself in the future."

"If you obtain a new Persona or wish to recall a Persona you used in Fusion," the blonde informs me. "You may talk to me. The book I have in my hands is known as the Persona Compendium, which will record the Personas you obtain. They can be registered and recalled for later use."

"Does this all make sense to you?" Igor asks.

"Honestly? No," I reply. "This is all completely crazy and any normal person would think I went batshit if I told them about this. But if you're asking if I understand what you're telling me, then yes, I do."

"Good," Igor says with a smile. "You learn at an exceptional rate."

I glance over to the lady, who I assume to be the assistant Igor mentioned when I came here last time. "That book…I've seen it before, I think."

Her eyes grow wide. "You've seen the Compendium elsewhere?"

"Yeah…" I attempt to recall when I had. It suddenly comes back to me. "Some old guy in a bookstore with a glowing cane gave it to me. In fact, I think I was supposed to bring it to you." I turn to look at Igor. "He said, 'Sorry it took so long'."

Igor's face contorts in thought. "I see…it would be of utmost importance to bring that book to us next we meet. Please, do not forget to do so."

"If you have any more questions, feel free to return here at any time," the lady says. "Time does not pass here, so you can stay as long as you'd like."

"Right…" I say. I thought this information would make me feel better, but it's just replaced confusion with worry.

"Now, Margaret," Igor says to the lady. "Please, see our guest out. He has a destiny to fulfill." He looks back to me. "'Till we meet again."

**{~}**

I check my phone's clock. It's been almost an hour, and I've been sitting in the dressing area of a clothing store waiting for my aunt to finish. She just can't pick a dress, it seems.

_(Urgh…)_

_What's wrong with you?_

_(I'm attached to you, kid. If you have to suffer through this, then so do I.)_

_Ouch. Sorry._

Ixion doesn't respond. Seems like the both of us are ready to lose it.

"What about this one?"

I look over to see Aunt Joanne showing me another dress. Like the others, it would look perfectly fine on most people, but it isn't exactly something I want to see my aunt wearing.

"Look, just get whatever you want," I tell her. "I'm not a girl. I don't know anything about fashion."

"But does it look alright?"

"Yeah, yeah, it does. Sure."

Aunt Joanne sighs. "You want to go home, don't you?"

I give her a sarcastic 'no shit' look.

"Alright, just gimme five more minutes."

_(That's five too many.)_

_What're you going to do about it? It's not like I can summon you out here._

_(That barrier is a pain in the ass.)_

Ixion's been saying something about a barrier, one that's preventing me from summoning his card and therefore preventing him from coming out of my head. I'm not really sure what's causing it, but maybe that's another thing I'll have to find out later. On the plus side, I don't really have a reason to bring him out unless I want to commit arson.

True to her word, Aunt Joanne takes us to the checkout and we finally leave. I flop onto the couch the instant we get home and breathe a sigh of relief.

"You're not one for shopping, are you?"

"Not at all," I tell her.

"I'm…I'm sorry..."

I look over to her, slightly shocked. "What're you apologizing for?"

She sighs and takes a seat on the couch. "I haven't been doing a very good job taking care of you. I was gone for two whole days right when you got here, I didn't come get you when it rained, and now I dragged you along on a shopping trip that you didn't even want to go on. I'm sorry, Tyson…"

"What're you talking about?" I ask. She's unusually sullen, as if this is something that's been bugging her for a while. "You've been feeding me, you got me all my school supplies, you brought me dinner last night when I was out cold…and most of all, you took me in."

That last one caught her attention. She quickly looks up at me, now with her own look of shock.

"Out of all my family members, you're the only one that showed me the hospitality that nobody else would. That's all I really needed. The fact that I even have a bed to sleep in makes up for a crappy shopping trip."

She looks at me and gives me a huge smile. "Well, I'm glad you're here. It's nice to have some company again."

I smile in return.

**SMASH**

Time has stopped dead in its tracks, myself included. The sound of glass smashing echoes through my mind as the picture of a playing card appears before me. The face shows an orange sun, and it's labeled with the Roman numeral of the number twenty. A disembodied voice calls out to me.

**Thou art I,  
And I am thou.**

**Thou hast established a new bond,  
One that brings freedom ever closer.**

**Thou shalt be blessed when thou choosest  
to make a Persona of the Sun Arcana…**

The card fades from my vision and everything returns to normal. Aunt Joanne isn't affected at all and I pretend it never even happened. With all this crazy stuff happening lately, I gotta learn to do that so people don't think I'm nuts.

_The Sun Arcana, huh? So that means I have a Social Link now._

_(Only a whole twenty-one more to go.)_

_Bring out the confetti._

After the two of us eat dinner, I head up to my room and boot up my computer. After a few minutes, I now have a cheat sheet made with every Arcana in the tarot deck. Major Arcana, that is. According to Google, there are even more, those ones being listed as the Minor Arcana, but I assume that nobody has those ones as Margaret only mentioned twenty-two. I type "Aunt Joanne" next to "XX - Sun". Hopefully, this'll keep me organized in who I've got Links with.

_…Which one was Emile?_

_(Magician, I think.)_

_Arcana Number 1…better talk to him tomorrow, then._

**{~}**

_-Wednesday, August 7th, 2013-_

The principal starts off the day by reading off some announcements over the intercom, something he doesn't normally do.

_"Those who are looking to apply for the track or ultimate frisbee teams should have their forms filled out and turned in by Monday of next week to their respective coaches," _he reads. _"The first of the extracurricular clubs should be opening up by the 19th of this month. Acquire with their host teachers if you wish to join."_

Seems baseball won't happen until spring. Makes sense, I guess. For now, though, I should probably look into one of those other sports. As for clubs, I'll have to find out what they have.

"You gonna join a team?" I ask Emile, who I once again have to wake up.

"I'm already on the swim team," he says after slapping himself across the face to keep from falling asleep. "They don't let you double up on teams."

"But I can join a club and a sport, right?"

"Yeah, if you wanna have no free time whatsoever."

"Speaking of free time, are we doing something today?"

"O-oh, right, yeah. I'm free today."

"Cool. Wanna walk over to the mall? I can have my aunt take us home after we're done."

"Sounds like a plan."

**{~}**

_Holy crap, I do _not _understand a single bit of this worksheet…_

_(I was never taught this…)_

_I thought Greeks invented math?_

_(This isn't math, kid. It's modern torture.)_

"Hey, Maria…can you help me out with number four?"

"I-I'm still stuck on number two!"

_I'm screwed._

**{~}**

As the last bell for the day rings, I tell Emile to meet me at the front door of the school and we both split to get what we need out of our lockers. For the first time, I notice whose locker neighbors mine, and holy crap, she's hot. She's a good dresser, too; she's in a black shirt and white skirt, plus platform flip-flops and silver stud earrings.

_(Empress.)_

_(…kid, stop staring.)_

I quickly avert my eyes before she catches on, but I can't help overhear the conversation between her and another guy as she walks away.

"Oh, c'mon, not again," she says with extreme distain.

"N-no, Rachel, please, hear me out…" the guy pleads.

"I said no. Knock it off."

"Why not? Not even for coffee or something?"

At that point, she just scoffs and pushes past him. I pass by the dejected student as I head for the school's front entrance, finding Emile there patiently waiting.

"Ready man?" he asks.

"Yup. Let's go."

"Oh, Emile…" an unknown voice taunts in a sing-song fashion.

"Dammit," Emile curses under his breath.

I turn to see a cheery-eyed redheaded girl bounding up the hallway, seemingly a sophomore. The right side of her somewhat short hair flips outward and her bangs do the same, but the left side falls straight down. She readjusts the elbow-length sleeves of her blue and red plaid button-up as she reaches us, crossing her arms and leaning on her right leg.

"You going somewhere, huh?" she asks Emile, with a slight sneer in her voice.

_(Star.)_

"Uh…yeah, I was taking Tyson to the mall. We were gonna hang out." He realizes the two of us haven't met yet and quickly introduces us. "O-oh, right, uh…Tyson, Ally. Ally, Tyson. She's my neighbor."

"Hey," I say with the wave of my hand.

"'Sup!" she replies with a gleaming smile. She looks back to Emile and begins to plead with him. "You told me we'd hang out again soon!"

Emile rubs the back of his head and smirks. "Y-yeah, I know, I did. I'm sorry, but this week's been busy. I thought I'd spend what little free time I had showing Tyson around. He just moved here."

"Well, hey, why can't she tag along?" I suggest. I kind of feel bad for her, considering that, by the sound of things, Emile had already promised to spend some time with her. Plus, she seems like a really cool person.

"W-wait, really?" Emile stammers out. "I didn't think you'd be okay with that."

Meanwhile, Ally's just jumping for joy. Literally. And giggling, too.

"C'mon, let's go!" she yells as she grips my and Emile's wrists and drags us out the door.

"G-geez, Ally, let up a little!" Emile yells back.

**{~}**

Next thing we know, we're getting dragged into a women's fragrance store and our noses are assailed with burning chemicals and citrus scents. The redhead continuously sprays us and begs us to tell her which one we think is best, to which I answer with hearty coughing caused by the vapors. While Ally has a hard time picking out the bottle she wants, Emile and I sneak out of the store to get some fresh air.

"This is humiliating…" Emile sighs.

"I think some of that singed my nose hairs," I tell him, taking deep breaths of the cold outdoor air. "Does she do this a lot?"

"Frequently enough, yeah," he says. "I love her and all, but she can drive me crazy."

"Love her?" I question. "What, you got a thing for her?"

Emile's face immediately goes red.

"Wh-what? No, what're you talking about? I've known her since we were really young. She's like the little sister I never had. We used to play together all the time and race each other on our scooters…stuff like that."

"They say best friends can turn into relationships, y'know," I tell him mockingly.

He simply scoffs at my remark.

"Yeah…no. I've seen too many of those situations go under. I'm not going to let that blow up in my face and lose a friend over it."

_Sad part is, he's right._

"Hey, I gotta piss. Be right back," Emile states as he darts past a few stores and around the corner to the public bathroom. The doors of perfume purgatory open and I take in a deep breath and hold it.

"He dragged you outside, huh?" Ally asks, holding a paper bag with her new perfume.

After reassuring myself the door had closed, I'm free to open my mouth again.

"Less, 'he dragged me out' and more, 'I ran out with him'." I smirk to let her know I'm joking. She seems to get the idea.

"Tell ya what; I'll let you guys pick the next place to go," she offers. "How about the comic store?"

"There's a comic store here?!" I react in surprise. I had no clue there was a comic book store, but I'm glad I know now.

Ally laughs and motions for me to follow her.

"We have to wait for Emile, though," I point out. "He went to the bathroom."

"O-oh, right," she responds. "How long has he been?"

"Couple minutes, maybe?" I say with a shrug. After a little more waiting in silence, we decide to go to the bathrooms to see what's keeping him. As we reach the alleyway, a familiar voice comes from around the corner.

"Joe, cut it out!"

Ally lightly taps my arm. She suddenly seems really worried.

"Is that Emile?"

"I think so…should we go check on him?"

She flashes a stern look of disgust.

"That's the boy's bathroom! I'm not going in there!"

"Ugh," I respond. "Fine. Wait here."

I walk into the bathroom and I'm greeted with Emile flying past me and slamming into the wall.

"What the hell?!" I call out. I look over to Emile's assailant and get into a defensive fighting stance.

_Holy crap, he's huge…_

_(I didn't know someone's voice could crack in their head.)_

"You wanna start somethin' too?" the bully, Joe, says to taunt me.

"I didn't even start anything…" Emile groans.

I help Emile to his feet while ignoring the verbal abuse coming from the other kid. Eventually getting fed up with the guy, I yell, "Oh, shut up already!" before dragging Emile out of the bathroom.

Ally runs to her friend, clearly worried. "Oh my god! Are you okay?!"

I realize he's more beat up than I thought. He has no visible cuts, but his lower chin looks bruised and he seems to be in a daze. He almost can't walk in a straight line.

"I'm fine," Emile insists. "Just let me sit down."

The two of us guide him to a nearby bench and Ally sits beside him. He slumps to the side with his head on her shoulder and groans. She looks at me with a worried expression.

_(That kid can't take a punch, can he? I hope you're more resilient.)_

Ignoring Ixion, I turn to Emile and ask him what happened.

"Went into the bathroom. He called me Emily and a fag. I called him out on it. He punched me. Usual routine."

_Usual…?!_

_(Hmm. That big fella must single out the whole 'feminine name' thing and prey on that.)_

_What an asshole._

I look at the faces of my friends, seeing Emile ready to pass out and Ally trying to calm him down, but with little success.

_Beating up my friends? Not in my book._

I turn around and march back into the bathroom, seeing Joe washing his hands. Before he can react, I've grabbed his shoulder and pulled back. Using my foot as a pivot against his own foot, I let gravity do the rest and carry him to the ground. I slam my heel into his face to reaffirm his newfound situation and turn back to leave.

"Grow up, you miserable sack of shit," I say to him as he rolls on the floor, groaning.

"What happened in there?" Ally asks as I come back out of the bathroom. "I heard a thud…"

"Knocked him on his ass," I confirm.

"You…you what?" Emile stammers, awestruck.

"Nobody calls my friends stuff like that and gets away with it. There's a special circle in Hell for those people."

The bruised boy just smiles and I take it as a 'thanks'.

**SMASH**

**Thou art I,  
And I am thou.**

**Thou hast established a new bond,  
One that brings freedom ever closer.**

**Thou shalt be blessed when thou choosest  
to make a Persona of the Magician Arcana…**

I text Aunt Joanne to have her come pick us up. Emile's in no shape to walk around, so the comic store will have to wait. My aunt pulls up in her van next to us and we escort Emile inside, and, as expected, she freaks out over his current state.

"What happened to him?!" she wails.

"He got into a fight," I tell her. "Don't worry. It's taken care of."

The slight hint of malice in my voice throws her off guard and almost seems to scare her a bit. She doesn't ask any more questions for the rest of the ride, save for asking Ally where the two of them live. Ally and I help Emile out of the car and into his house when we pull up to it, and luckily for him his parents don't seem to be home. Maybe he can hide his injury somehow.

"Text me if you need anything, alright?" Ally tells him.

"Alright," Emile responds with a grin. "Thanks."

She hugs him tightly and sends him inside.

"I can walk home from here," Ally informs me. As I walk back to the car, Ally stops me. "Hey, um…thank you. For…y'know."

"Anything for a friend," I say with a smile.

She smiles in return and hugs me as well before making the walk back to her place.

_…no Social Link?_

_(Guess not.)_

_Maybe she's just a hugger._

I return to the van and realize how tired I am. For a small fight, that took a lot out of me. To no surprise, Aunt Joanne and I are silent from then on for the rest of the day.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

_-Thursday, August 8th, 2013-_

My mind wanders as I try to finish the worksheet I've been assigned in math class. Emile never showed up for any classes today, but I can't really blame him. I'd take a day off if I were him, too.

_-You alright dude?- _I text him.

_-yeah, I'm fine, just didn't feel like coming today- _he responds.

Considering it's the last period of the day, the class isn't paying much attention to the worksheet and is instead chatting amongst each other. I try to drown them out with music, but a certain piece of one conversation catches my attention.

"That reporter lady isn't doing much better," someone points out.

"First of all, she isn't a reporter," the girl next to him says. "Second, 'isn't doing much better' is underselling it."

"What happened this time?" a third person, another girl, asks.

"She flatlined for at least three seconds," the guy says. "She bounced right back, but the doctors say they're worried she won't make it out of her coma."

_Why do I keep hearing about this lady?_

The second girl sighs.

"I hope she'll be okay…my mom loves her show."

**{~}**

A finger taps my shoulder as I stand at my locker.

"Hi, Tyson!" Ally greets me with a smile. "Glad I found ya!"

"Oh, hey," I reply, removing my earbuds. "What's up?"

"Well, I realized I never got your number yesterday," she points out. "Thought it might be a good idea."

"Yeah, I guess so," I say. I'm not exactly following her reasoning, but why turn down a girl for her phone number?

"Thanks!" she says as we finish trading information. "I gotta go; I promised Emile I'd get him some ice cream on the way home."

"It's like you're his maid or something," I say with a laugh.

"Don't tell him that…he'll take it the wrong way," she says with a grimace.

_(Nice job, dumbass.)_

_Shut it._

"Don't worry," I tell her. "I won't."

She smiles and nods in approval, giving me another hug before darting down the hallway with the usual bounce in her step.

**{~}**

I get home to find that Aunt Joanne has stayed out late tonight, presumably for her job. I almost feel bad; we still haven't talked since I kicked that one kid's ass.

_(She's probably worried about you.)_

_I know she is, but giving me the silent treatment seems kind of irrational._

I decide not to think much on it, as there's not much I can do about it until she gets back. I plop down onto the couch to reassess my thoughts, given that the week is nearing its conclusion and my mind is fried.

_First math quiz next Tuesday…physics quiz the next day…haven't given Igor that book yet…speaking of books, I need to buy one for a Lit assignment…_

I stop myself, realizing that one of those sounds incredibly out of place. I let out a loud exaggerated sigh, realizing that this Persona stuff has really messed my life up.

_(C'mon, I'm not that bad.)_

_Not my point. You shouldn't even be talking to me. You shouldn't exist._

_(Ouch. That's harsh, kid.)_

_It's true, though. Nobody tells you during health class, 'Oh, by the way, one of the symptoms of puberty is that you'll start hearing voices'._

Ixion falls silent. Either he gets my point or, somehow, I've managed to hurt his feelings. I'll vote for the former.

The house's doorbell breaks the silence. I peer over the couch to see who's out there, but the porch is empty. However, a black truck with dark tinted windows peels out of the cul-de-sac and veers down the road. Curious, I rise to my feet and open the door, finding a small brown package with nothing but my address written on the side. I carry the box to the counter and tear it open, pulling out a smaller black carbon case. I examine it all around, seeing no markings whatsoever aside from a sticky note on the top of the case.

_"You'll need this. –CM"_

_'CM'? Who's that?_

I grip the latch to the box and lift the lid. A gleaming silver object presents itself before me.

It's a handgun.

**{~}**

_-Friday, August 9th, 2013-_

"Are you alright?"

I look to my left and see Maria looking back. I realize I've been silent during the whole car ride to school; she must've taken notice to how distant I'm acting.

"Uh…yeah, I'm…fine," I lie. "Just a long first week is all."

Unlike everyone else I've talked within the last week, Maria doesn't buy my fib.

"You were fine the last couple of days…did something come up?"

The image of the gun in its case flashes in my mind, despite throwing it in my nightstand drawer alongside the leather book.

_She can't find it…she can't see that…_

I shake my head in an attempt to snap myself out of it.

"N-…u-um…sort of," I tell her. "It's no big deal, really…"

I sense a slight bit of annoyance coming from Maria. She must not care for me hiding details from her, but what else am I supposed to do? Tell her that some semi-anonymous freak sent me a gun in the mail?

"Sorry…" I tell her. "Just don't worry about me, alright? I'll be okay." I try to muster a smile. Somehow, I manage to make it convincing enough for her usual smile and blush to return. If I can keep everyone from worrying, this day should be way easier.

…I hope.

**{~}**

I greet Emile as I walk into first period. His bruises have mostly faded away, but someone could spot them if they knew what they were looking for. He seems to have recovered, though; he's just as peppy as ever.

"Hey bro," Emile says as I take my seat. "I heard Ally tracked you down for your number yesterday."

"Oh, uh…yeah. Why, is that important, or…?"

Emile laughs.

"Of course it is! She doesn't normally do stuff like that."

I feel my face redden slightly.

"S-seriously? You're kidding, right?"

_(You're turning into a womanizer, kid.)_

"I don't kid when it comes to chicks, man," he replies with a smirk. The expression on his face sours as I mull over this new information. "Hey, um…would I be able to ask a huge favor?"

"Like what?"

"Well, remember a few days ago when I said that there were some things going on at home? There was a gas leak the day before and I had to help get some stuff out of there. The fumigation is going on this weekend, but we have to stay in a hotel…and my mom, she…snores."

"And you wanna stay at my place so you can actually get some sleep?" I suggest with a smirk.

"If it's too much trouble, I can deal with-"

I hold my hand up. "Don't worry, man. You can stay with me."

His head flies back as he groans in relief. "Oh thank God. Thanks man. It'll only be for this Saturday, though, so I won't drive you too crazy by staying all weekend."

"I'll let my aunt know," I tell him. "I'll text you my address later."

"You're a lifesaver, dude!"

**{~}**

I fight my way against the surging lunchtime crowd, drowning out the conversations I'd rather not hear with my headphones. After almost getting trampled by the stampede of students, I reach a wooden door at the end of the hallway. The sign beside it reads, 'Richard Crane – Track Coach'.

_Knock, knock, knock_

The door opens and a tall muscular man with a black buzz cut stands before me, looking remarkably similar to a commander in an army. The sheer menacing presence of Mr. Crane causes me to forget what I even came here for.

_(Tower.)_

"What is it, shortstack?"

"U-um…could I get a form to sign up for the track team?"

The man studies me for a moment before bursting out laughing, attracting the attention of some of the straggler students headed for lunch.

"You? Track? With those legs? Maybe you'd be better off with the frisbee kids over with Mr. Kennedy. That sounds more of your style." He taunts me as he ruffles my hair, which I quickly fix.

_(What a dick.)_

"Sir, I'm more than capable of running on your team," I tell him while shoving my foot in the door as he attempts to shut it in my face. "I may not look like it, but I was the fastest guy on my baseball team at my old school."

"That doesn't mean anything to me, shortstack," he says. "With baseball, all you do is push forward for a few seconds and then take a break while everyone stares at the guy swinging his stick. In my team, someone who's fast isn't the same thing as someone's who's got a lot of endurance, and what my team is lacking right now is that someone. I need a guy who can go all-out without stopping."

"I can be that someone," I plead. "Let me prove it to you."

"And how do you intend to do that?" he asks with a raised eyebrow.

I'm not entirely sure why I want a spot on the team so badly. At this point, it's pretty much just to spite this asshole for talking down to me. Either way, I'm ready to show him up.

"Let me run on the track for you today after school," I offer. "If I meet your expectations, you'll put me on the team. If I don't, then I don't make the team."

Mr. Crane's tongue visibly shifts against the inside of his cheek as he considers my proposal. As if against his better judgment, he throws his arms up and agrees.

"Alright, alright. Fine. You got one shot. Meet me at the track immediately after school and we'll see if you live up to your hype."

"Thank you, sir. You won't be disappointed."

"You better hope you're right."

**{~}**

"Are you nuts?!"

I have now found myself being scolded by Emile during the last period of the day for attempting to show up the track coach. According to him, Mr. Crane is one ruthless son of a bitch.

"Dude, calm down," I say to him. "He can't be that bad."

"Yes, yes he can!" he responds. "His exercises are brutal, you make one slipup and you're off the team, and he's even made a couple students cry. And one of them was a senior!"

_Okay, so maybe he's that bad._

"How do you know that? It's probably just a rumor."

"He used to be the swimming coach. It's a good thing he switched sports this year or I probably wouldn't have made it this time. I was only in last year because they didn't have enough members. I got lucky."

"Not enough members? I thought swimming was a popular sport?"

"It is, but Coach Crane only accepts the best of the best. If you're not good enough for him, your ass is off the team."

"Well, geez, thanks for making me nervous."

Emile sighs and rubs his forehead.

"Look, just…don't get too full of it. If you try to get above him, he's gonna find a way to shove you back down. Trust me. Stay under the radar after all this and you might be fine."

"Thanks-…wait, 'might'?"

"Yeah. Or he'll beat you into the ground."

**{~}**

Thankfully, as I had guessed, the weatherwoman's report earlier in the week had been incorrect. It hasn't rained all day and has instead stayed warm but windy, perfect for running. After school let out, I made a beeline for the back of the school, where the brown running track circles the lush green football field.

_(You sure you wanna do this, kid? Sounds to me like you're about to make an enemy.)_

_You'd rather me give up?_

Ixion once again goes quiet.

"So, you actually showed up," Coach Crane yells in his coarse voice. "I was half expecting you to chicken out."

"Then it sounds like you've got the wrong impression of me."

_(Your friend told you not to get cocky.)_

_Screw that; this guy's an asshole._

Coach Crane simply scowls. I notice that we're not alone – another student, this one in a black track suit, is sitting on the bench behind the coach. He has short black hair and is moderately tan; he seems to be of Hawaiian descent. The student stands and approaches me with his hand outstretched.

_(Hierophant.)_

"You must be Tyson, huh?"

"Yeah, that's me," I reply as I shake his hand. "How do you know my name?"

"You're the new kid, aren't you? Names of new people spread fast. I'm in your grade. Name's Mike Roza. I'm the captain of the track team."

"Don't take this the wrong way, but…why are you here?" I ask.

"Because, shortstack," Coach Crane answers. "You're gonna race him."

"…I'm gonna what?"

"If you beat him in one lap around the whole track, I'll give you the forms. You'll bring them in on Monday and I'll add you to the roster. Easy as that."

_Easy?! That track is, like, a mile long!_

_(Chill, kid. You've got this.)_

_Oh, so_now _you're on my side?_

_(Let's be honest; I didn't really have much of a choice to begin with.)_

The two of us walk towards the starting line, my heart rate suddenly climbing. I see Mike stretching and decide to follow by example. It's then that I realize I have absolutely no idea what I'm doing and that I'm way over my head here.

"Ready…"

Mike crouches down in a starting position as Coach Crane whips out his stopwatch.

_Wait, shit, I'm not done stretchi-_

"Set…"

_Son of a bitch._

I get into the starting position as well.

_(You've got this, kid.)_

"Go!"

The two of us kick off, launching into a full sprint. I remember one of the tricks to running in gym class was to pace myself, so I plan on starting slow and-…okay, Mike doesn't have the same plan. I've now found myself a good couple feet behind him as we reach the first turn. I kick up the pace and catch up with him, the two of us nearly running side by side.

_I can't lose…I'm not gonna lose…_

Over the next stretch of track, I notice Mike is already becoming fatigued but is still putting his all into it. I, on the other hand, don't feel tired in the slightest. Mike continues to press on however, and the two of us are neck and neck until we reach the second turn, at which point Mike speeds ahead. I put the rest of my strength into my sprint, keeping my eyes glued to the ground. I see a thick white line speed past me and I slow myself to a stop. Using my knees as support, I crouch down and try to slow my heart back down with slow breathing. The sound of paper hitting the ground catches my attention, and I look beside my feet to see a slightly crumpled track signup form staring back at me. Glancing up, I see Coach Crane storming off out of the football field.

"Con-…congratulations, man…" Mike says from behind me, short of breath. I pick up the form and fold it up into my pocket. "That was crazy…I haven't had a close race like that in years…"

"You were pretty impressive yourself," I say to him, finding it interesting that I'm not as tired as he is. "I can see why you're the captain."

"Well, keep that up, and you might just be co-captain," he says with a smirk. "Glad to have you on the team, Tyson. Looking forward to running with ya." He shakes my hand once again, this time firmer than before.

**SMASH**

_Kickass._

**Thou art I,  
And I am thou.**

**Thou hast established a new bond,**  
**One that brings freedom ever closer.**

**Thou shalt be blessed when thou choosest**  
**to make a Persona of the Hierophant Arcana…**

As Mike leaves the same way Coach Crane had, I turn my attention to Ixion.

_Alright, what was that? That wasn't all me._

_(You're half right. Like you told him, you're fast. The speed was all you.)_

_And the endurance?_

_(Having a Persona…does things to people. My being here causes a spike in your durability so you can fight for a longer time, among other things.)_

_So you pretty much make me physically stronger?_

_(And the same will happen to anyone else who gets a Persona.)_

_…__wait, so I'm not the only one?_

_(You thought you were? Geez, kid. I thought you were smarter than that.)_

**{~}**

As it turns out, I don't need to ride a bike or be driven to places, because if I keep a steady pace I can jog virtually anywhere without getting tired. Of course, either of the other methods are faster and not to mention less suspicious, but it's nice to know I have options.

I open the door to the house and find Aunt Joanne home as well and on the phone with a friend. She waves as I come inside and I return the gesture, then point upstairs with one hand and make a phone gesture with the other. She nods and gives me a thumbs-up. I then retreat to my room to change out of my somewhat sweaty clothes and to pass the time, first pulling out my journal for a new entry.

_"August 9th, 2013 – I've awakened to my Persona and it makes me physically stronger. Pretty awesome. I haven't had nightmares since Ixion appeared and I've been sleeping easier, too. I've joined the track team and have gotten Social Links for Aunt Joanne, Emile, and Mike."_

_Knock, knock_

Aunt Joanne steps into my room, having hung up with her friend.

"Did you want to talk to me?" she asks.

"Yeah, Emile needs a place to stay this Saturday and I told him he could stay here. Is that alright?"

Aunt Joanne goes quiet, seeming indecisive.

_Shit, that's not a good sign._

"I don't know, Tyson…" she confesses. "Last time you were with him, you guys weren't exactly safe. It's my job to keep you out of trouble, and by the looks of things, Emile isn't making that job easier."

"Oh, come on," I retort. "I was protecting him. He was getting bullied, so I stood up for him. I thought that would be a good thing?"

"…I didn't say it wasn't," she says. "I'm just worried about you is all. If anything happens to you, it's ultimately my fault. I don't know if I'd be able to live with knowing you got hurt."

She raises a good point, but I'm not about to go back on the promise I made to Emile.

"It's just for one night. What harm could come out of that? Besides, I'm not going to get hurt. I'm stronger than you think I am. Can't you trust me?"

_(You're too good at flipping things around on people, kid.)_

She stares at me for a moment, contemplating the situation. "Just promise me you'll stay out of trouble from now on, okay? I don't want anything bad to happen to you."

I smile at her. "I promise. I'll be okay."

She smiles in return, then approaches me and does the last thing I expected – she hugs me.

**SMASH**

_Wait, what?!_

**Thou art I,**  
**And I am thou.**

**Thou hast strengthened thy bond**  
**To the Second Rank.**

**Thou shalt be blessed when thou choosest**  
**to make a Persona of the Sun Arcana…**

_Second rank?! How many ranks are there?!_

_(Looks like you've got a ways to go.)_

Aunt Joanne releases me from her embrace and leaves my room with a somber expression on her face. Our conversation plays back in my head as I sit at my desk.

_"Promise me you'll stay out of trouble?"_

_"I promise."_

I glance over to my nightstand table drawer, the image of the gun resurfacing once again.

_She can't find it…she can't see that…_

**{~}**

_-Saturday, August 10th, 2013-_

_"The woman is still alive, but her heart rate is catastrophically low. Doctors are still unable to determine the cause of the anomaly and are unsure how much longer she will hold on."_

The door to the garage opens and I poke my head over the couch to see Aunt Joanne walking in with plastic bags all the way up her forearms.

"Could you help me out, Tyson?" she begs under the strain of the bags.

"Yeah, sure," I agree, abandoning the television to retrieve the remaining bags from the van. "What's all this?"

"Groceries, of course," my aunt responds. "We're running low on food. I got you and Emile some pop and snacks, too. When is he going to show up?"

"At eight or so."

"Are you staying in your room?"

"Guess so, yeah. You have an air mattress?"

"Yeah, let me go find it and you can blow it up. Then we gotta make sure the house is clean."

"Sure thing."

Just as the two of us finish making the house look presentable, the doorbell rings, and Emile enters the house with his backpack and pillow.

"'Sup, dude?" he greets as he enters the door. "Hi, Ms. Tyson's aunt."

Aunt Joanne laughs at Emile's remark. "Hello to you, too, Emile."

_…__what_is _Aunt Joanne's last name?_

"Where do I…?" Emile asks, motioning to his belongings.

"O-oh, right…" I motion for Emile to follow me and lead him to my room, where an inflatable mattress is positioned in the center of the floor. He drops his pillow and backpack onto the mattress and almost immediately begins sifting through my video game cases, which are piled up inside the lower shelf of my entertainment center.

"Got anything good?" he asks with a smirk.

"Depends on what you consider good!" I joke. I shove him out of my way with my foot and crouch down myself, retrieving my favorite picks from the collection. I quite literally toss the games at Emile's head, some of which he catches while the others smack him in the face. "Pick any of 'em. Doesn't matter to me," I say while booting up the TV and system. I take a sideways glance at Emile and flash an evil smirk. "Just know your ass is getting kicked either way."

Surprisingly enough, Emile doesn't totally suck at video games. I schooled him in a couple racing games, but he completely wrecked me in some first-person shooter matches and held up pretty well in some fighting games. He didn't really strike me as the kind of guy to play many games, so this shocked me quite a bit.

"K.O!" the announcer yells.

"Dammit!" Emile drops the controller out of rage. "How do you keep doing that?!"

"Uppercut and Slamdown combo," I confess. "Pull that off and he's the most broken character in the game."

"Well that's not fair!" Emile complains with his hand gesturing towards the TV. "How the hell am I even supposed to stand a chance when you won't even let me touch you!"

My phone vibrates on my desk, alerting me that Aunt Joanne had texted me.

_-Dinner-_

"Come on, loser," I tell Emile. "Food."

**{~}**

"You ever get so bored you feel like you're going to go nuts?"

It is now the dead of night and the two of us have turned in for the day after countless hours of video games. Emile is lying on the air mattress, staring into the ceiling and spitting out philosophy, while I'm just trying to get some sleep.

"Sometimes," I tell him. "Doesn't everyone?"

"I guess," Emile says. "But I feel like we've got it worse. Nothing ever happens in this town. Like, ever."

That remark causes me to roll onto my other side to look at Emile.

"Seriously? Nothing at all?"

"W-…yeah…" he states, obviously confused. "Why do you seem so freaked out?"

_Because more stuff has happened to me here within a week than living in New York my whole life._

"No reason…" I lie, turning back to face the wall.

"I just want something exciting to happen, y'know?"

"What, getting beat up in the bathroom wasn't enough excitement for you?"

"Well, okay, that was a first…but still."

The room is silent for a moment until I hear the tearing of a wrapper. I look over my shoulder to find Emile biting into an unwrapped cheese stick.

"Really? Food this late?" I ask.

"Dude, I'm starving."

"You had at least ten slices of pizza."

"Is being hungry a crime?" he questions.

"No, but don't come crying to me when your breath smells like shit in the morning."

"Whatever, man. So hey, what do you think of Ally?"

The question catches me slightly off guard.

"H-huh? Why? Does she ask about me?"

Emile just laughs. "No, I'm just curious. You've been here a week and haven't showed any interest in any girls, so I thought I'd ask."

"Well like you said, I've been here a week. I'm not going to fall for someone that quickly."

"But you're not even interested in anyone?"

"…I'm keeping my options open."

_(Hey, kid. I found something…)_

_'Found something'? What does that even mean?_

"Why, are _you_ interested in anyone?" I ask Emile.

_(Remember how I said a barrier was keeping me from coming out? Opposite that is some sort of bridge. I can't explain it, but it looks important.)_

_Can you cross it?_

"W-well…sort of…" Emile answers. "But I don't think she feels the same way."

_(We're connected, kid. I've gotta take you with me, and you need to be unconscious for me to do that.)_

_So you want Emile to punch me out?_

_(No, dumbass. Just fall asleep.)_

"Why not ask her?" I suggest.

"Someday. But not now."

"You won't find out until you do. Worth the risk, I'd say."

"…I'll think about it. I just don't want to be turned down. Rejection is the worst."

"I know how you feel, but don't worry too much about it. If it's meant to be, it'll happen."

The two of us fall silent, having run out of things to talk about. I begin to think on Emile's words, images of all the girls I've met flashing through my head. As my subconscious slips, vivid fantasies of me protecting them and spending time with them play through my mind like a movie. As the scenes progress, they begin fading into a blue haze, and my body feels a sense of calm and relief as my mind separates from it and travels into a dream.

**{~}**

_So this is what's on the other side…_

_(Not what I expected…)_

_What, you expected rainbows and unicorns?_

The bridge Ixion mentioned has taken us to some sort of light blue void-like dimension. Underneath my feet is a large round pattern of stone, almost resembling a public plaza of some kind. Facing the plaza is a massive clock tower, the hands occasionally flickering and changing position. At the base of the tower is a massive two-part door that looks impossible to open, due in part to both the size of the door and the large mechanism in the center that resembles some sort of futuristic lock. Black tendrils snake out of the sides of the slab and around the clock tower and across the floor of the plaza. Aside from that frightening sight, nothing else can be seen; beyond the plaza is vast nothingness cast in a thick crystalline blue fog.

_What even is this place?_

_(I'm not sure…but it's like some sort of inner realm of your mind. I think the bridge took us further into it.)_

_Am I dreaming? But it's so vivid…is this what lucid dreaming is like?_

_(Must be.)_

_Weird, though…you're supposed to be able to control everything that happens in a lucid dream, and I'm trying to fly but it's not working._

_(Then either this isn't what you think it is or something's restricting you.)_

The sounds of footsteps call my attention, causing me to quickly turn on my heel to face the source of the sound. As I do so, I hear the slam of a door and find nothing behind me.

"Who's there?!" I call out, my voice travelling out into the abyss.

_(Where'd you get the sword?)_

I look down to my outstretched right hand, and in its grasp is the sword from my last nightmare. Somehow, it has reappeared out of thin air, most likely in response to the sound. As my adrenaline fades, I close my eyes for a moment, imagining what my hand would look like without the sword. Opening my eyes, I find that the sword has vanished, seemingly by my will alone.

_At least I can do that, I guess._

_(…that wasn't there before…)_

_What wasn't?_

To the right of the clock tower facing the plaza is a large structure that looks incredibly familiar.

_Isn't that…_

_(It's your school.)_

Looming before me is a replication of the front of Gode High School, but only the front staircase and doorway. The rest of the building fades away into the fog like it doesn't exist. The black tentacles from the clock tower stretch and wrap around this building as well, as if they aim to consume the whole realm.

_Something doesn't feel right here…_

_(You feel it too?)_

Similar to my last nightmare, the pressure in the area seems strong, as if a malevolent force intends to crush me against the surface of the ground. The dark presence is almost overwhelming. Just then, a thought strikes me. If I heard a door close, then…

I run up the staircase of the "school" and look into the glass door, only I can't see inside. All I can see is a pink void, like this is some sort of game that hasn't loaded all the textures. I look down to the handle of the door. Maybe if I open it, I'll be able to go inside. As I'm about to pull the door open, Ixion speaks up.

_(We should leave.)_

I'm about to argue with him, but my better judgment tells me he's right. That dark presence feels dangerous, like I'm being taunted and told to run for my own good. It's not quite the fight or flight response, but a deep-seated gut feeling is urging me to flee.

_…__yeah. We should. Can you take me back home?_

_(I think it might wake your body up, but yes, I can. Hang tight.)_

**{~}**

My eyes flutter open and I have reappeared in my room. The absence of the evil pressure feels like a huge relief and I take a deep lung-filling breath. I roll onto my side and close my eyes, slowing my breathing to get me back to sleep. I've been told by plenty of people to think about what happened over the past few days in your head to fall asleep faster, so I decide to give it a shot.

"_Is this what lucid dreaming is like?"_

I roll again, this time shoving my face into the pillow.

_"C'mon, Beth, everybody has had a lucid dream at some point in their lives."_

Realizing I left my ceiling fan on, I pull the covers closer to my cold body.

_"…it seems as though Bethany Jones, a morning talk show host for a local radio station in the small town of Gode, North Dakota, was found unmoving in her bed this afternoon after her coworkers grew suspicious of her not showing up for work earlier this morning."_

A tug in my gut suddenly appears, one that sends a panic up my spine.

_"I…think you have to eat cheese or something."_

My head snaps up from my pillow, my mind suddenly alert and awake. I throw the covers off and look down at Emile.

_Oh my god…there's no way…those can't be connected…_

"Emile…Emile? Dude, wake up…"

No response.

"Emile!" I call out to his sleeping form, louder this time, and I grab him by the shirt and shake him.

_(Whoa, kid, what's your deal?!)_

"_Emile!_"

He simply slumps down onto the bed, unmoving and limp. No matter how hard I try to wake him, he simply won't respond.

"Shit…no…this isn't happening…"

_(What's wrong with him?)_

_He won't wake up._

_(Sleep paralysis?)_

_No…something worse. It's gotta be what happened to that talk show host. She got dared into trying lucid dreaming, and the next day, she's in a coma. Those can't be a coincidence._

I begin thinking of various courses of action to take, knowing that I have to save my friend. My mind reels into a desperate panic, knowing that if I don't do something, he might not ever wake up. Do I keep trying to wake him up, call 911, get Aunt Joanne…

_(We go back in.)_

_…__what?_

_(You said it yourself, that realm was a lucid dream, and he's in one now according to your reasoning. Plus, we heard someone else in there. That could've been him.)_

_So what, you're telling me our dreams were connected? That doesn't even make any sense!_

_(Out of all the things you've seen lately, this is what you're questioning?)_

_Shouldn't we get the paramedics instead?_

_(What're they going to do? It's been almost a week and they still haven't found out what's up with that other lady.)_

I look down at Emile's body, my throat choking up. He may be sleeping, but he seems different than someone's who's in a normal rest. He looks weak. Helpless. Broken. It's almost a reflection of how I feel at the moment; he's in trouble and I'm powerless to stop it.

The memory of summoning Ixion for the first time comes back to me. I recall how that hulking shadow, despite being much larger than me, found its demise by my hand. With a steeled resolve, I return to my bed, lying flat on my back.

_Do it._

**{~}**

As I open the door to the replica of the school, the pink wall twists and contorts into some sort of portal, and I step in, my sword pointed out in front of me. The portal feels like walking through a massive slab of jelly, and as I come out the other side I find that the building isn't as accurate to the school as I thought it would be. The walls and floors are built exactly the same, only the structure of the school itself seems to have no rhyme or reason, as if it's just one gargantuan maze. It looks to be devoid of any students, which is to be expected. I look up to the ceiling, seeing the welcome banners are torn and tattered, and the signs above the hallways dictating which hall is which have nothing but nonsense scribbled on them. Most shocking of all, however, are the massive posters of Emile's face plastered all across the walls, the captions reading, _'Swim Champ 2013 – Emile Truman'._

"What a guy!"

I quickly look around; I search for the source of the voice, but no one can be seen.

"He's so talented!" another voice agrees.

"I wish I was like him. He's so cool!" a girl swoons.

"There's no way I could swim as fast as him," a guy says, but with admiration as opposed to sadness.

The disembodied voices echo down the halls, making the place seem even more desolate and disturbing.

_What is this?!_

_(I don't have the answers to everything, kid.)_

As I turn the corner of one of the hallways, I hear a sort of slurping noise behind me. With my sword pointed in front of me, my arms shaking, I twist to face the sound. One of the posters on the wall had ripped open, and black goo is seeping out from the tear in Emile's face. The gelatinous mass drops off the wall and begins to move, slinking towards me. Two red piercing eyes open on the front end, and two thin gangly arms with spidery fingers reach up out of the substance. As it reaches for me, I stab the end of my blade into its center, hoping to vanquish the thing quickly. The arms retract in response and the eyes disappear.

"That was easy," I say to myself with a smirk.

As if the universe decided to give me the middle finger today, the shadowy mass splits in two and each part convulses and ripples, both of them lifting off the ground and growing into ball-like shapes. The two forms change color, becoming radiant blue with black stripes. One end suddenly forms a pair of lips and teeth, and a giant tongue flies out of the newly-formed mouth. The other end is now donning an emotionless mask, and the sides with the mouths turn to face me, letting out a small rumbling growl.

"Alright, that is the creepiest and most disgusting thing I have ever seen!" I call out to the emptiness of the school.

The first tongue creature flies forward, whipping its only appendage back and swinging it up towards my face. I sidestep and spin on my heel, slicing the edge of my sword into the back of the creature, opening up a black gash in its backside and spilling a sort of black and red goop into the air. The second creature catches me by surprise from behind and whips me with its tongue, the blow shoving me into the wall.

"I take it back – _that_ is the most disgusting thing!" I say with a shudder.

I lift my left hand up to the air, a blue glowing card appearing from nowhere and floating down into my palm. The card spins on its corner, emitting a flurry of power. I search for something cool to say while in the moment.

_"Persona!"_I yell with a power in my stomach I didn't know I had. My hand clasps down, crushing the card in my grip and causing the sound of breaking glass to echo through the hall. A shockwave flies around me as Ixion takes physical form in the air above me. His snaps his fingers as he's done before and fire erupts around the creature, casting it back with a loud thwacking noise. As Ixion vanishes again, the second creature, having recovered rushes me from the side, meaning to use the same attack again. This time, I take it head-on, jumping forward with my sword pointed outward. The blade pierces the inside of the creature's mouth and exits out the other side through the mask's nose. The goo blasts out from both ends of the wound as the entire being explodes into nothingness. I take the opportunity to pounce on the other creature and finish it off with a downward strike.

_(Feeling good?)_

_Never better._

The dinging sound of the PA system activating plays out and an unrecognizable voice follows.

"Would Tyson Rayne please report to the pool? Tyson Rayne, please report to the pool."

I smirk and continue down the hallway. "Guess where we're going?"

As I round the corner, another dark glob crawling against the floor spots me. It flails its arms as it slithers near, and I slam the edge of my sword down the middle of it, violently splitting it this time. As the tongue creatures take form, I summon forth Ixion and have him strike one down with Cleave while I slice the other one's tongue clean off. The dark liquid sprays across the walls and my clothes as the two creatures fall to our blades. I take off running down the hallway, keeping my blood pumping and my action streak going.

A couple hallways and slayings later, a downward staircase presents itself.

_(Could be a trap.)_

_They always say that in movies and it always is._

_(Then why go in?)_

_Because they always get out of it alive, too._

I take off down the stairs, and as I do so the PA system repeats the announcement once again but with more intensity.

Another dark creature dies at the end of my sword, and afterwards I feel a surge of energy inside me.

_(Hey, kid. I've got a new skill.)_

_Tch…did we just level up?_

_(I don't even know what that means.)_

This level of the school is considerably darker than the last, and the posters of Emile are more frequent, some of them larger than others.

"He's the best guy in the world, isn't he?"

I ignore the echoing voices as I rush down the hall.

"I wish I could be like him."

"Me too! He's like…not lame at all!"

"I wanna have his babies!"

_(What was that last one…?)_

_Don't talk about it._

Another shadowy mass approaches, only this time it splits into three of the tongue creatures. The change in numbers catches me off guard and I suffer a lick to the face, but I dispatch them rather quickly. Suddenly, time stops in a similar fashion to when I make a Social Link, and four cards appear before me.

_(Shuffle Time,)_my Arcana voice announces.

One card is black with a large gray X across the front, two of them have red swords on them, but the fourth's face is decorated with blue trim and the portrait of a small female fairy donned in blue armor with her hand reaching out. The Roman numeral for one is underneath the portrait in white. The cards begin to spin around in front of me after flipping to their perfectly identical backsides, making it difficult for me to recall which card is which. I blink as the card I believe to be the fairy's reaches the spot closest to me in its pattern, but the card flips over to reveal one of the sword cards. The remaining cards vanish and the one before me shatters, then time returns to its normal speed.

_(You've got a new weapon in here, kid. I'm going to guess you can swap them out.)_

As predicted by Ixion, I willed the current wooden-handled sword to disappear and a new one spawned in its place, this one having a bronze handle and a slightly wider blade. I give it a couple test swings to get a feel for its weight before continuing through the maze of a school. The next glob to appear split into two different creatures this time, turning into floating hairpieces wearing red crowns and violet masquerade masks. The first one makes a screeching noise as its hair flails. A burst of fire pushes me backwards, a slight burning pain searing across my skin.

_Oh, great. They know Agi._

I jump forward and retaliate with three successive strikes to the creature's "face", causing it to fall the ground and dissipate into a pile of goo. The second one ditches the fire spell and instead dives straight at me, ramming its crown into my chest and throwing me back. I quickly reach my feet and slice it across its horizontal center, cutting it open and causing it to squeal loudly. I find myself panting somewhat heavily, and I now realize that all this fighting it tiring me out.

_(Can't stop now, kid. You gotta get to Emile.)_

Knowing Ixion's correct, I push through the next couple floating crown things before finding another staircase. The PA announcer says nothing, but I find a large crack in the wall beside the staircase. A bright blue light filters through it as if it's drawing me in. I approach it and try to see what's beyond the crack, but it's so skinny it's like looking through a keyhole. A white light engulfs my vision without warning, and next thing I know, I'm in the hallway of the normal version of the school, only everything is in black and white, save for a student standing at his locker. I instantly recognize the color figure as Emile, taking notice to the long hair and ever-so-slight hanging of his head. As Emile retrieves his items, three larger boys walk past him, one of them purposefully ramming his shoulder into Emile's back. The other two laugh and Emile simply stares into his locker, but I can tell through the look in his eyes that he noticed. It's that hazed film over the eyes that shows that there's a soul trapped in there that's screaming for help and just can't do it itself. The scene begins to blur and change into the school's lunchroom. This time, Emile approaches a portion of the table with two girls, the both of them deep in conversation.

"How are you bodacious women doing today?" he says, as if expecting that to be an even remotely useable pickup line. "Ashley, I see you're as beautiful as ever."

"O-oh…hey, Emile…" the girl he calls Ashley says with slight annoyance.

"Mind if I sit with you two?"

The two girls give each other a sideways glance before silently agreeing to get up and move somewhere else, despite the protests of a disappointed Emile. The boy sighs and sits with his head propped up with his arm. To put salt in the metaphorical wound, a boy who I remember to be the bully I beat up for Emile just so happens to be a little further down the table with a group of his friends.

"'Sup, Emily?"

"Leave me alone, Joe. I'm not in the mood." The higher pitch in Emile's voices suggests this took place at least a year ago.

Of course, the brute wouldn't take that as an answer. "Heard you scored the lowest on the swim records again," he taunts. "Must suck being at the bottom."

"I said leave me alone," Emile retorts in a stronger tone.

"What're you gonna to? Tell on me?" Joe scoffs. He shakes his head and returns to his lunch, muttering, "Fag," under his breath. His friends chuckle alongside him.

Having enough, Emile turns to the bully and says, "Get over yourself."

Joe looks back at Emile. "Wanna run that by me again?" Being answered by silence, Joe continues. "Why don't you go back to your little girlfriend and complain to _her _about your shit. Oh, wait, sorry. Boyfriend."

Emile's hand moves in front of his eyes, as if reinforcing a broken dam. He says nothing as the other friends continue to tease him, picking apart every little thing about him, from his hair to how he apparently bumps into people in the halls to how he got humiliated by the teacher when he fell asleep in class. Finally, the scene fades to white and I've found myself back in the demented edition of our school. I take a moment to reflect on what I've seen, deducing that those were Emile's repressed memories.

_That's what he meant by 'the usual'. People have been mocking him for years, and he normally ignores them and shrugs it off, but all that bottled up rage eats at him._

_(He's a trooper.)_

The crack in the wall now has no light coming from it. I look beside it and see one of the posters claiming that Emile had set some sort of record on the team.

"Maybe if I worked harder, I could be as good as him."

"Emile is so cool. He's everybody's friend."

"The pride of the school, ain't he?"

I listen to the voices as I trudge down the hallway, ignoring the rest of the monsters and finding the next staircase, determined to finish what I came here to do.

The next floor is, surprisingly enough, the exact layout of the normal school's first floor, only the torn posters are scattered across the walls and the world outside the windows is nonexistent, only appearing as inky blackness.

"Tyson Rayne, report to the pool."

I find the door easily enough, but that evil presence is even stronger here than it was outside.

_(Get ready, kid.)_

_Deep breath…deep breath…_

I throw open the door, the smell of chlorine burning my nose. The water is still and clear, but the lights at the ceiling flicker as if they're about to burn out.

"They love me, don't they?"

The voice of a high school boy ricochets off the wide open space, carrying from the opposite end of the pool to me.

"Emile?!"

All the way across the pool is Emile in a black swimsuit, on his knees, staring at the massive timer on the wall. The time constantly shifts, never staying on one for long. The boy is unmoving, being adored by the students in the bleachers, mouthing words that I can't hear.

"Listen to them, Tyson!" Emile says with sudden gusto, getting to his feet and raising his arms in the air. "They love me!"

"Emile…" I say with an increasing worry. "This is going to be hard for you to hear, but none of this is real. This is just a dream. And I'm here to get you out."

The swimmer's faces changes to one of confusion. "A dream? What're you talking about? How is this a dream?"

"Well, for one, we're having a completely audible conversation from two ends of a pool."

Emile ignores my quip and motions towards the clock. "Look at that, man! I did that! I did something worthwhile and they all love me for it! I couldn't be happier!"

_He must see this way differently than I do._

"Emile, stop. I get it. You want to be respected and appreciated, but this isn't the way to do it," I reason with him.

"Why aren't you happy for me?" Emile says with slight anger. "You're my friend. You should be glad."

"I _am _your friend, which is why I'm telling you to snap out of it! It's just a dream! It's some kind of illusion your mind came up with to create your own little perfect life, but meanwhile you're actually in my room not waking up, and dammit, that scares me shitless! So wake up already and let's get out of here!"

I hadn't noticed before, but I wish I had now. Black clouds of smoke have begun to approach Emile, gathering around him.

"But…everything's perfect…" he says, now seemingly detached from what's occurring around him. "I've got all I wanted…this can't be a dream…there's no way…"

"I'm sorry, Emile," I console him, hoping I can convince him to leave with me before the clouds envelop him. "But we need to leave. This place is dangerous. I know it seems perfect here and way better than your real life, but don't worry. You've got me and Ally out in the real world. Whatever crap you face, we'll be there for you, even if everyone else steps all over you."

Familiar whispers increase in volume, echoing loudly enough to sound like a real voice.

_Stay…stay…you'll be happy…stay…_

The voices immediately remind me of the first nightmare I had here in Gode. This same thing happened with the dream of my mother, and I almost died in the next nightmare I had. My level of panic reaches a peak, and I realize that Emile's in incredible danger if I don't get him out of this dream right now.

"Emile, you gotta listen to me, we need to…leave…"

I trail off as I notice the cloud of black gas has collected around Emile so thick that's like a sheet of darkness, but the wall is keeping its distance, as if there's a bubble around him keeping it away. The clouds dance in their place, agitated.

"B-but…I'm happy here…" his voice says. Suddenly, his head snaps up, and his eyes become a deep yellow. His voice immediately drops multiple octaves; other higher-pitched voices layering overtop his own. _**"And I'm not leaving!"**_

The black clouds suddenly collapse in on Emile and spin around him like a twister. A sudden blast within it causes such a shockwave that the water inside the pool gets shot away from him, and I duck in cover as the gargantuan wall of water crashes on top of me. I look up as the rain subsides and realize I've somehow gotten into the empty pool, which has now become so large the walls tower over us. I look to find that Emile has drastically changed. He's now in a long purple king's robe, complete with golden crown and scepter. His throne is attached to a sort of parade float being held up by six muscular silhouettes that seem to be straining under the weight of the structure, but it looks more like they're bowing than lifting.

_**"Everybody will bow down and respect me, no matter what it takes!"**_the king yells in his multiple voices. He slams the butt of his scepter against his float, and the front end opens to reveal three massive cannons. _**"I'm done with being the target!"**_

_Oh, son of a bitch…_

The middle cannon fires and I force myself to run to the side out of range, only for another cannon to swivel and fire, the cannonball exploding on the ground in front of me.

_(He's not Emile anymore, kid. Feel free to pound him into oblivion.)_

_Not like I have much of a choice!_

I run forward, diving to the ground and sliding underneath the next cannonball. I jump up one of the silhouettes like a staircase and greet King Emile with a sword butt to the face.

_**"You dare defy my orders?! Those who don't submit aren't even worthy to be in my presence!"**_

_This whole world is blowing everything way out of proportion…!_

King Emile reels his staff back and gives it a strong swing in my direction. The force of the blow being stronger than I expected, I get thrown off of the float and land with a thud on the ground.

_**"I'll stamp out anyone who gets in my way!"**_

With another slam of the scepter, all three cannons lower towards me. As I get on my feet, I recall that Ixion had obtained a new skill I hadn't used yet. The card appears in front of me and I stab it through with my sword.

"Rakukaja!"

An orb of swirling yellow energy surrounds me as Ixion adjusts his glasses. The effect of this new skill isn't apparent until the cannons open fire, exploding on top of and around me, and I feel considerably less pain than I had from even his scepter strike.

"Agi!" I yell, summoning Ixion once more, this time to cast the fire spell on the front-left man holding the float up. I figure that if they can't move the float, it'll have much less mobility and it'll have a harder time hitting me. Luckily for me, the man disappears with a burst of black sludge, much like the creatures I fought on the way here.

_(We've got company, kid.)_

The black piles of gunk that form into the monsters have begun to sneak down into the pool, observing us and waiting for the right moment to strike.

_(I think the fighting is going to attract more. We gotta finish this, and fast.)_

**_"End him!"_**King Emile decrees. Upon command, the remaining five men holding the float charge forward in an attempt to ram me with it, but I counter by sliding under the float as it approaches me, and I manage to slice the ankles of the left-middle and back-right men, causing them to both topple over and explode in the black sludge. With King Emile in shock, I take the opportunity to strike.

"Agi!"

The fire blast envelops the king, but unfortunately he appears to be unscathed. He instead raises his staff to me, and the end of it opens up to reveal a spinning blade sort of contraption. The blades begin to twist and a wall of green wind blasts outward. Running around the float to dodge the attack unfortunately puts me straight into the range of the cannons, and they open fire straight at point-blank. I have no choice but to brace myself and defend. I grunt as the explosions rack me, sending me skittering across the floor. I somehow manage to hold on to my sword, however, and I see an opening clear as day. I whip my arm back and toss the blade through the air, and it spins and lodges itself into the chest of the front-right man. The toss was imperfect, though, and it's landed slightly to the left of its heart. Despite that, its reeling in pain is the opening I need. I cast Agi again, this time on the back-left man, and it falls over. With the weight now uneven across the float, the right-side men drop it right on top of the remaining left one. King Emile now topples off the float and onto the floor, enraged more than ever.

_**"You miserable peasant!"**_

King Emile snaps his fingers, commanding the two remaining men to abandon the crashed float and come to his aid, one of them still having my sword in its chest. His scepter opens up again, throwing the gale force winds in my direction, tossing me aside like a ragdoll.

_I can't take much more…I'm exhausted…_

_(Me too, kid. I don't know how many more spells I can pull off. We gotta make this count.)_

On instinct, I try to summon my other sword back into my hand, but I find that I can't do it. Devising a plan to retrieve the blade the sidekick has, I run to the right towards it. As expected, King Emile isn't all that bright and he continues to throw the razor-sharp gusts directly at me and instead manages to hit his own subject standing between us, who can't gather the strength to move out of the way. It disappears into black oblivion and my sword clatters to the ground. In a fit of rage, King Emile instead attempts to charge me head-on with a horizontal swing to my head. I duck and punch upwards into his gut, then sock him in the face as he recoils. With him stunned, I run over to retrieve my sword and take the time to dispatch the remaining subject, who remains kneeling despite the obvious impending threat. Now with just us two, I run after him and swing my blade; he blocks with his staff and bunts with the head of it, slamming my skull. I swing upwards at his arm, opening up a gash that spills out that black sludge. On my upswing, I flip the sword to a dagger grip and swing across his chest horizontally, and then flip my grip and swing again, creating a large X-shaped wound in his chest.

_**"What-…no…"**_

**"**Sorry, Emile…but this is for your own good."

I thrust forward, piercing my blade straight into his heart.

_**"AAAAAUGH!"**_

Everything around us slowly fades to white as King Emile falls to his knees, the black gunk spraying out all over the both of us in slow-motion. A sound like that of a power generator shutting down can be heard as the two of us collapse.

**{~}**

Emptiness. That's all I see now. I see an expanse of white, like we're in a realm of nothingness.

"Emile…hey, buddy…" I say as I try to help his unconscious form up. He's returned back to his normal state, now donning the t-shirt and black nylon shorts he had when he fell asleep. Emile groans and opens his eyes, which are thankfully their regular brown color.

"What-…what the hell happened…"

"It's a long story…"

"Tell me. I wanna know."

The determination in his voice catches me off guard. His eyes catch the cuts throughout my shirt and skin.

"I did that, didn't I?"

"…you remember?"

"Yeah…yeah, I do," he confesses. "I fell asleep, and everything was real fuzzy. But I kept walking around and, eventually, I found our school…but it was different. Everyone loved me and appreciated me, even though I didn't really do anything to deserve it besides breaking some dumb swim record. Nobody was mocking me or treating me like shit like they usually did. Girls were all over me like it was a normal thing. It was…perfect."

"And you decided to stay."

Emile sighs, seemingly holding back tears.

"Yeah…I did. It was so much better than my real life, that when I heard voices telling me to stay, I believed them. I had no reason not to." He looks up at me, his eyes flashing nothing but shame. "My dumbass choice almost got you killed. Dude…I'm so sorry."

"It's not your fault," I tell him with my hand on his shoulder. "It's tempting. I know it is. The same thing happened to me."

Emile's face shows shock. "It did? How did you get out?"

"I didn't. I resisted it in the first place. My Persona helped, I think," I tell him.

"Persona…that's what that guy in that suit was? Persona?"

"His name's Ixion, actually, but he's _a _Persona. That's not the point, though. Look, we need to get you out of here. Your body is in a coma and I think we're still dreaming."

"Tyson, wait," Emile says, both of us on our feet now. I look at him, seeing his apologetic face. "If this sort of thing happened to us, who's to say it hasn't happened to someone else? Or if it will again?" I never considered the idea, though if Bethany Jones had gone into a coma, too, then presumably the same thing happened to her. Emile continues as I ponder the thought. "If other people are going to suffer like I did, then we need to make sure we'll be there to save them. I couldn't resist that alone. We need to be there for anyone else this happens to."

"So what're you suggesting?"

"Those dark things that I had attack you…that thing that possessed me and made me…" he chokes down his next words. "That thing that made me hurt you. It told me things while it was inside me, like there was another brain in my head. I know what their plans are. They're called Shadows, and they won't stop until they consume every human mind they can get their hands on. They're cruel and vicious, but they're also smart. I doubt anyone will be able to resist them like you did. They have a way of manipulating things, like they know your darkest secrets or something."

"So…you're saying you want to get rid of these…Shadows?"

"In any way that I can, yeah. Nobody else is going to be hurt if I have any say in it."

**SMASH**

A warm blue light surrounds Emile. The two of us look up, witnessing the figure of a shirtless muscular man floating above him. Black scruff covers his lower face and he's wielding a two-handed iron blade in one hand. In his other hand is a shield, decorated with the symbol for fire. His hair is in a buzz cut and his legs have thick armor on them. His face seems perpetually angry and he's in a battle-ready stance with his knees bent and his back hunched.

_**Thou art I.**_  
_**I am thou.**_

_**I am Capaneus,**_  
_**He who was struck down by the gods**_  
_**For believing himself to be superior.**_

_**Allow me to aid you in your quest**_  
_**To liberate the world of evil beings.**_

As quickly as he appeared, Capaneus vanishes and a blue playing card not unlike Ixion's appears in his place. It spins as it floats down, eventually reaching Emile's open hands and fading away. Emile glows brightly, the light emanating from his heart.

"I-…what is-…"

"_That_ is a Persona," I say, smiling out of pure awe. "Looks like I'm not the only one with one now."

Emile looks at me, shocked beyond words.

"Wh-…wh-what do I do with it?"

"Exactly what you told me you'd do. Fight the Shadows."

Everything once again fades to nothing.

**{~}**

Both of us awaken at the same time. We lay there in silence, the only noise being the soft hum of the air conditioner and the dryer in the laundry room downstairs. The silence continues for about ten minutes, the two of us allowing the experience to sink in.

"So how long have you had the voice in your head?"

I chuckle slightly.

"About a week now."

"So that wasn't just some psychotic dream. That actually happened."

"Yeah. It did."

"…well, now what?"

I roll over and wince as a sharp pain rides up my shoulder. I see no visible cuts, but my nerves react anyways.

"We sleep."

_Emile Truman's new power places freedom within reach._

_He has awakened to the Persona Capaneus,_

_The façade used to overcome one's hardships._


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

_-Sunday, August 11__th__, 2013—_

My fingers dance across my keyboard, opening tab after tab on information regarding lucid dreaming. Almost none of the minor details seem to match up with my previous few experiences, but the key points are basically the same. I'm aware of the dream, but can't control it like most lucid dreamers can, aside from having some kind of hammerspace for my weapons.

"So I can go into that dream world now too?" Emile asks, assisting me in my afternoon research.

"I assume so," I reply, pulling up another website. "My Persona is what let me in last night, so I'm guessing yours can do the same thing."

"Speaking of Personas, how do you get yours to shut up?"

"I don't."

"'Course not."

After a few more minutes of scouring the internet gathering as much as we can, Emile speaks up.

"Are you sure that it's even considered a lucid dream? I mean, we can't control the events."

"Yeah, but it was still affected by our minds like a dream should be. Both nightmares had our previous memories shape the world, and, taking a shot in the dark here, what we wanted most was what we saw and what we got. So we _are_ controlling what happens, just not directly."

"But…isn't that just a regular dream?"

"It would be, but it's the fact that we're aware of the dream that makes me think it's lucid."

"Okay, then technically it's just a really vivid dream, right?"

"B-…ugh, I don't even know anymore."

"Well, isn't that helpful," he responds in a sarcastic tone.

"You think I have all the answers right off the bat? I've had my Persona for less than a week. Besides, I'm not concerned about what kind of dream it is; what I wanna know is how Shadows got into our dreams."

"What makes you think they weren't there already?"

I look at Emile with a confused expression. "What're you talking about?"

"Check this out," he says, holding his smartphone screen in my direction. "According to this, everyone has a Shadow. It's like all your hidden thoughts packed away into some kinda dark…thing."

"So…was I killing bad thoughts?"

Emile shrugs, and then shakes his head. "I don't think so. Says here that a Shadow will try to get you to accept it as a part of yourself, not outright attack you. Those must've been a different kind of Shadow. The one that possessed me might be one of those, though. I don't know."

"See, that's the problem," I say, leaning back in my seat with a groan. "We don't know. We just don't know enough about this stuff, and I don't think anyone on the internet knows anything either outside of speculation and theories."

"Yeah…you're right," Emile says, placing his phone in his pocket. "I'm going to get some food."

"Text me the link to that site you just found," I call out to him as he exits my room.

As he walks out of the room, I turn my attention back to my computer monitor to look over the research I had gathered. In bullet points going down the document, it describes the concept of lucid dreaming and how one goes about getting into the habit of these dreams. I jot down a quick set of points regarding Shadows, specifically the manipulative nature of the more powerful ones.

_Y'know what worries me?_

_ (Hmm?)_

_ Apparently eating cheese isn't as important as I thought. It's only a minor stimulant in a series of practices you have to go through to get yourself to start lucid dreaming. It's an extensive process._

_ (So you think those Shadows forced you in.)_

_ …yeah. Maybe. How did you know what's what I was thinking?_

_ (I've told you, kid. We're the same person.)_

_ Then…does that mean Personas and Shadows are similar things?_

_ (I wouldn't be surprised at all if that were the case.)_

Pounding footsteps call my attention to my bedroom door.

"News. Channel 11. Now," Emile commands.

"Whoa, okay, okay, chill, man," I say, picking up my remote and flipping my TV to the requested channel.

"…-and a memorial will be scheduled at a later date."

I flash a look of confusion before reading the ticker at the bottom of the page.

It reads "Comatose Radio Host Passes Away".

"Didn't you tell me that she was related to this?!" Emile stammers out.

"Well, yeah, I think so. She was told to try lucid dreaming, and-…"

"You know what this means, right?" Emile forces out with an incredibly distressed look on his face. "If you hadn't saved me last night, I could've ended up dead."

**{~}**

With Emile now in his mom's car on the way home and Aunt Joanne off at work, I have a moment to think to myself and gather my thoughts. Somehow, Shadows are influencing people to disconnect from their bodies and stay in a dream world that's modeled after their inner thoughts. Persona users can consciously go to this dream world, but besides that, Emile and I are completely in the dark, so much so that we don't even know what the dreams we're having are classified as.

"I just don't know enough…" I say to myself. "And who else would-…"

I throw open the drawer of my nightstand, ignoring the black case and instead pulling out the leather bound book. I toss it in a cinch bag and hightail it to the outlet mall.

**{~}**

"Welcome to the Velvet Room…you took much longer to return than I had anticipated."

"Sorry about that," I apologize to Igor. "Here's that book you asked for."

I retrieve the book from my bag and place it on the bar counter and push it towards Igor. His smile grows as he picks it up and examines it. He blows an obscene amount of dust off the cover directly into my face, causing me to enter a coughing fit.

"I must thank you for returning this to us," he says. "It will play a role in both of our destinies."

"What exactly is it, anyways?" I ask after collecting myself, motioning towards the locked book.

Igor places it on the countertop and slides it over to Margaret, who places it with her own book. With the two books side-by-side, I realize Margaret's has a slight blue tint to it as opposed to the other book's red.

"That will become clear in due time," Igor encourages. "Now is too soon to be delving into its purpose, but do know that it's no mere object. Now then, you had another purpose for coming here, did you not?"

"Yeah…I had a few more questions."

"I will answer them as best I can."

"Do you know anything about an alternate world within dreams? Not in the conventional sense, but I mean like a world that connects everyone's dreams together?"

"That is a hard question to answer," Igor admits. "Many mysteries surround the realm of the subconscious, but what I can tell you is that the subconscious is where the Persona resides."

"Yeah, I know that part, but my Persona took us to another world when I slept, and I found my friend in there, and now he has a Persona."

Igor's eyes close in thought. "Hmm…such is the fate of a Wild Card. However, that is certainly most peculiar…was there anything unusual about this world?"

"It was a warped reality that Emile's mind created, and it was filled with Shadows."

"Ah, yes…Shadows; the manifestation of the dark recesses of one's psyche."

"So you know about them?"

"Why, of course I do!" he says with a chuckle. "To understand Personas is to understand Shadows. You see, a Persona is a tamed Shadow, one that has been accepted by whom it reflects. Previous guests of mine had a series of encounters with the Shadows of their comrades and faced many hardships due to this. I believe your future does not hold such trials, but Shadows with equally vicious intentions await you. They can take a multitude of forms and can be quite mischievous."

"Is…is killing Shadows a bad thing?"

"Not in the slightest. In fact, you'd be doing the universe quite the favor in eliminating as many as possible. I would recommend purposefully seeking out these evil entities as they could lead you to the answers you seek."

"That still doesn't explain what the dream world is."

Igor smiles again, giving me the impression that he's hiding something. "That is not something I can explain. The truth must be grasped by the hands of those who seek it, not handed to them by those who know more. You can only truly grow in strength in this way."

"So, you're not going to tell me anything?"

"Only this," Igor says. "I will provide assistance to your journey when the time comes."

**{~}**

_(Well, that was a waste of time.)_

_ Tell me about it. He rubs me the wrong way._

_ (Anyone with a nose that big is worthy of suspicion.)_

After meeting with Igor, I decide to head back home. Instead of running back, however, I decide to take it slow and walk, as the weather was nice and cool; a slight breeze among a warm sun. It has already begun to set, casting a slight orange glow upon the afternoon landscape. The lawns of neighbors are being doused by sprinklers, casting their spray across the bright green lawns before reverting back to their original positions and repeating the process. I purposefully walk into the path of one to feel the light mist dance around my face.

I spot a familiar figure ahead of me, crouching down by the flowers, wearing her blonde hair in a high ponytail and her apron covered in dirt.

"Hey, Maria," I say to her as I walk up the sidewalk.

My greeting catches her by surprise and her head whips up to look at me, causing thin strands of hair to fall in front of her glistening forehead.

"O-oh! H-hi, Tyson…" she stammers, rising to her feet and brushing dirt off of her pants.

"I didn't know you were into gardening," I say, nodding towards the flowerbed around the tree she was kneeling by. Red and yellow pansies are organized in an intricate pattern around the tree, but some empty spots remain that she was clearly working on filling out.

"Hmm? Oh, y-yeah…it's, uh…it gives me an excuse to get out of the house, really…"

"Your brothers driving you nuts?"

She smiles and nods, but avoids eye contact and doesn't respond.

"Do they always mess with you like they do in the car?" I ask, trying to keep the conversation from getting weird.

Her smile fades slightly. "Yeah, they do. It's not just them, though…my whole family is like that. They never really take me seriously. That's why I like coming out here to work on my flowers. None of them like getting dirty or sweaty like this, so it gives me something to do to get away from them." She notices the look of concern on my face and quickly stammers out another response. "I-I mean, I love my family and all, but-…"

"I know what you mean," I tell her.

She looks at me, slightly shocked. "You do?"

I technically don't know how she feels, but I try my best to look at it from her perspective.

"Yeah, I do. They drive you crazy, but they're still your family and you appreciate what they do for you."

Her sweet innocent smile returns to her face as she nods and brushes the stray hair out of her face and behind her ear.

"When I tell people that, they usually shrug it off and tell me I'm being ridiculous just like my parents do. I'm glad someone understands."

**SMASH**

**Thou art I,  
****And I am thou.**

**Thou hast established a new bond,  
****One that brings freedom ever closer.**

**Thou shalt be blessed when thou choosest  
****to make a Persona of the High Priestess Arcana…**

"Well, uh…I'll leave you to your flowers. See you tomorrow," I say to her as I turn to leave.

"Y-yeah…see ya."

**{~}**

_-Monday, August 12__th__, 2013—_

Due to the events of the previous day, Emile had decided to skip school, and really, I'm not surprised. I had considered it as well, but I thought that if I dropped out of the routine of schoolwork that it'd be even harder to pick it back up again. The same would be said for Emile, only I've noticed he doesn't really work in the first place. Of course, by the time US History came around, I had long regretted my decision.

"Tyson?"

My attention is called to the front of the classroom by the teacher, Mr. Sanders.

"I asked you a question."

Realizing I must've spaced out, I apologize and ask him to repeat the question.

"When did the Boston Tea Party occur?"

"Oh, u-uh…1773?"

"Yes, exactly. A group of patriots had gotten fed up with the unfair laws imposed by the British, specifically the Tea Act, and had decided to retaliate by dumping imported tea out into the harbor. Naturally, the British Parliament didn't take kindly to that and implemented the Coercive Acts in 1774 to punish the colonists."

Pleased with how I managed to pull that answer out of my ass, I once again space out as Mr. Sanders continues rambling on.

As the day comes to a close, I knock on the door to Coach Crane's office to turn in my form, fully prepared for the worst. The door swings open and the hulking brute of a man glares down at me.

"What do you want?"

"I-I have the sign-up form for you, sir."

He glares at me a little longer before snatching the form from my outstretched arm. He looks it over before responding to me.

"I hope you know that the only reason I'm putting you on this team is because we're short on members, shortstack. So don't disappoint me."

"I won't."

_(You sure?)_

_ Nope._

"Good," Coach Crane responds in the most passive-aggressive way possible. "Meetings are on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Bring thirty dollars for the uniforms tomorrow." He then proceeds to shut the door in my face. Reassuring that he can't see me, I raise a middle finger to the door before turning to head home.

**{~}**

_-tyson! wanna come 2 the mall again w/ me &amp; emile 2mrw?-_

_ How does Ally physically manage to type like this?_

I type up a response to the peppy sophomore, telling her that I unfortunately have to turn down the offer due to it overlapping with track practice.

_-awww, ok :( wednesday then?-_

_ -Yeah, Wednesday sounds good.-_

I put down my phone to grab a snack out of the pantry, picking out a fudge-covered granola bar. My aunt walks in just as I close the door.

"Hungry, huh?" she asks with a smile.

"Maybe a little," I admit.

"I'll order some pizza."

My phone vibrates on the counter as another message comes in.

_ -ok! ill tell emile-_

"Oh, by the way," I tell Aunt Joanne. "Before I forget, I need $30 for a track uniform tomorrow."

She looks at me with a mix of surprise and worry. "Track? When did you sign up for track?"

"…did I not tell you?"

"No, I don't think you did."

"…huh. Thought I had. Anyway, yeah, I need-…"

"Yeah, yeah, I heard you," she says as she digs through her purse. "How are you getting home after practices?"

"I can walk or get a ride. Don't worry about that."

She pulls out $15 and hands it to me. "Do you think you could pay the rest? I don't get paid until Friday and I need to ration what I have."

"Well, yeah, I guess so…I don't have much cash either though."

"I'm sorry, Tyson," she says with genuine empathy. "Hey, maybe you should look into getting a part-time job? People post requests for help all the time at the billboard in the mall."

_…that's actually not a bad idea._

I nod in reply. "I'll do that tomorrow."

**{~}**

_-Tuesday, August 13__th__, 2013—_

The look on Emile's face immediately sends a shiver of panic down my spine.

"…Emile? Are you alright?"

He tries to pull me away from my locker and behind the nearby vending machine to keep us away from the crowd. He clearly doesn't want anyone hearing whatever it is he wants to tell me, but the suddenness of his action makes me resistant and I pull away.

"Dude, what?! What's wrong?!"

Emile looks me in the eye and tells me, "I went back in."

This time, I'm the one who forces him to the wall.

"…you did _what?_"

"I went back into the dream world last night. That fake school you got me out of? It's still there. And it's filled with monsters."

_(Dumbass.)_

"You expected it to not be?! Why would you go in alone? I had a hard enough time saving you by myself!"

"I wanted to see what it was all about! C'mon man, why are you freaking out? I thought me getting in some practice with my Persona would be a good thing."

"Not when you've got nobody to back you up. Look, from here on out, we don't go in without each other, alright? It's way too risky. I don't want you dying on me and I highly doubt you want me to die, either."

Much to Emile's dismay, he sighs and agrees, and we shake hands to seal the deal. I take a minute to think before responding.

"What, uh…what can your Persona do, anyways?"

Emile scoffs. "He's a total shitwrecker. Plows through anything with a huge sword and takes Fire spells like a champ-…"

"Agi."

"…huh?"

"Agi. The fire spells? They're called Agi."

"O-oh, right, I knew that. It's gonna take some time for me to get used to all this new lingo. It's almost like a second language."

"Yeah, no kidding. Hey, I'll see you later; I gotta go to track."

"Alright. Later, man."

**{~}**

"Alright, you whelps," Coach Crane yells out after having every track member stand side-by-side. "I dunno if you kept up with last year's track team's performance, but it was a big ol' pile of donkey shit! That's why I'm in charge now! I'm not about to have Central kick our ass at yet another sport. That doesn't fly in my book. So you better pull this off! Understood?!"

"Yes, sir!" the line collectively calls back. …well, save for me. I'm still trying to process how this guy is allowed to treat us like Marines.

"Alright! You have five minutes to do your stretches before we move on to laps. Time starts now!"

I start off doing the basic stretches I learned from playing other sports, like touching my toes and whatnot, but some of the more complicated ones I wait for the other members to do so I can copy them. Clearly, I'm the odd one out; I have no idea what I'm doing.

"Time's up!"

_Oh, hell no, that was _not _five minutes._

"Line up, three laps! Go!"

The team as a whole begins to swiftly jog down the track. I pay close attention to everyone else, keeping an eye on and imitating their breathing patterns and making sure I don't pass out from a heat stroke or something.

_(You know you could easily outshine all of these guys.)_

_ I'd rather stay under the radar for now._

_ (Since when have you wanted to lay low?)_

_ Put a sock in it._

"Nice day, isn't it?"

I turn to my left and see Mike's running beside me, keeping a brisk pace.

_The team captain's singling me out on the first day…_

_ (So much for laying low.)_

"Yeah, but it's a little too hot for me," I admit.

"Eh, we've had better days," he agrees. "At least it's been raining a lot. It's nice to have a little buffer now and again."

After a short moment of silence, Mike speaks up again going into our second lap.

"What'cha think of Crane?"

Looking back to make sure he's not behind us, I respond.

"He seems like a huge dick."

Mike laughs. "He is. He drove the swim team nuts last year. He says he wanted to coach the track team because they were doing poorly, but I've heard he got kicked off swim because the members signed a petition to get rid of him."

"So on a scale from 1 to 10, how boned are we?"

Mike laughs again, this time with more genuineness. "Don't worry. Since I'm captain, I'm technically supposed to lead the team and he knows that. I'm just not going to argue against opening workouts. He may be strict, but he knows how to train us."

Upon finishing our final lap, we take a water break and turn in the money for track uniforms. Meanwhile, I spot one of the members tending to a relatively overweight kid breathing heavily on the ground while Crane screams at him for being weak.

_I'll bet'cha his mom forced him to be here._

"What're the uniforms gonna look like?" I ask Mike. "Still black?"

"Actually, I was going to ask you about that," he responded. "What do you think we should do?"

I'm slightly taken aback by the question, and it must've shown because Mike immediately reacts, chuckling slightly.

"See, Tyson, I'm in need of a co-captain. If the team is going to be nearly as big as it was last year, I'm not going to be able to handle all of these members by myself. And with the way you raced me the other day, that shows to me you've got what it takes. Now, nothing's official, but you're the only candidate as of now, so I'd really like to hear your opinion."

_(Makin' it to the big leagues already. They grow up so fast.)_

"Well, sticking with black would make sense, but with the heat this season…maybe we should go with gold this time," I suggest.

"Gold, huh?" Mike ponders on my response for a moment. "This school hasn't done gold track uniforms since…well, since Coach Crane was a student…"

"Then he'd have no opposition to it," I add. "I think that guy over there would be real grateful to not be sweating any more than he has to," I joke as I motion toward the heavy guy. He's still struggling to get up.

Mike laughs. "Alright, I see your point. I'll run it by the coach later. Thanks, man." As Mike begins to walk away, he hesitates and instead turns back to me. "Y'know, I'm glad I have someone on the team I can rely on this early in the season. It means a lot," he says with a grin on his face.

**SMASH**

**Thou art I,  
****And I am thou.**

**Thou hast strengthened thy bond  
****To the Second Rank.**

**Thou shalt be blessed when thou choosest  
****to make a Persona of the Hierophant Arcana…**

**{~}**

After running a few more drills with the coach, practice ends and I head over to the outlet mall to check up on that bulletin board Aunt Joanne mentioned. Small scraps of paper with perforated tabs are messily pinned up to the board, each of them describing part-time jobs for students my age. While I was worried that the jobs would get in the way of school, a lot of them say that they're volunteer jobs that I'd only get paid for on the days that I show up. Unfortunately, they all involve skills I don't currently have, like being an assistant to a local bike mechanic.

_I'd give that a shot, but I don't think I'm diligent enough to try something I have no idea how to do…_

As I'm about to give up my search, my phone vibrates in my pocket, signifying I've gotten a text message.

_-hey dude, i got an idea- _says Emile.

_-What's up?-_

_ -go in the dream world tonight, i wanna test something-_

"What…?" I audibly mumble to myself as I turn to leave the mall.

_-What do you want to test?-_

_ -i wanna see if we have to be near each other to go to the dream world or if we can meet up from other houses-_

_ -Oh. Alright, sure.-_

**{~}**

This mysterious world has started to feel familiar to me, though I'm not entirely sure if I like that. The blue mist rolls past my ankles, clouding my feet and the ground below me. The clock tower still stands tall, looming over the vast emptiness and casting a feeling of dread. Some people have told me an interesting fact – that scientists designed a room in which there is literally no sound whatsoever, and the dead silence makes the inhabitants go nuts. That's how this silent and empty world feels.

I glance around and notice that Emile wasn't kidding – the fake school entrance is still there, and the black tendrils look as though they will never let it go. I hesitate as I walk towards the door, my curiosity begging me to walk inside once again.

"Guess this proves my theory."

I jump in fright and spin around to the source of the voice. The familiar brown-haired boy laughs at my reaction.

"Dude, seriously, don't you ever do that again," I say as I smack Emile upside the head.

"Oh, come on!" he teases, rubbing the back of his skull. "It's all in good fun."

"This isn't exactly a place that puts me in a joking mood."

Emile looks around for a minute before quietly agreeing with me. He points up to the clock tower door and asks, "Where do you think that goes?"

"Honestly, I don't think I want to know. Look, can we just leave now?"

"Bro, you need to seriously lighten up. You've got this shitwrecking monster under your belt and you don't even wanna take it for a spin."

_(Excuse me, "monster"?)_

"…are you telling me you brought me in here just so we could fight?"

"Pretty much," Emile responds in honesty.

"Oh my god…" I groan as I throw my face in my hands.

"Look, if we're gonna save the people that get trapped here, we're not going to do a very good job if we're out of practice with our Personas. So let's get this show on the road!"

I snap my head up out of my palms as I hear the sharp _chick-chick _of a handgun.

"J-Jesus, dude!" I stammer as I take multiple large steps back from the gun-slinging teen. "Where did you get that?!"

Emile examines the gun as if he didn't even notice he had brandished it. "I dunno. I just sorta had it when I came in here last. But check this out!" He points the gun into the abyss and begins firing it. I quickly put my fingers to my ears to prevent the volume from hurting, but somehow, the gun's not making much sound, even without a silencer. As I begin to ask Emile what he's having me look at, I realize he's firing off way more bullets than that magazine size should reasonably allow.

"Unlimited ammo…?"

"Yup!" Emile says as he spins the pistol on his finger. "Badass, right?"

I sigh as I summon my bronze sword. "Let's get this over with."

Emile jumps for joy as the both of us walk into the haunted school.

**{~}**

_"HYAAAH!" _I scream as I jump into the air, slicing upward through the face of the tiara Shadow. Another one comes barreling towards me, ready to ram into my side, but luckily Emile's got my back – two bullets stop it in its tracks.

"Piece of cake, right?" he says.

"It is easier to deal with these things when I have a partner, yeah. They're easy to beat now, but I was having trouble on my own. How long should we stay in here, anyway?"

"Until we get tired, I guess."

"Tired? We're already sleeping."

"O-oh, right. Well, when I was in here last night, I noticed that I still felt physically tired after taking too many hits, and when I used my Persona a lot, I started to feel mentally drained."

Thinking back on it, I experienced something similar when I came in here to rescue Emile.

"Right. So I guess that's as good a time as any to leave."

Emile and I continue through the mess of hallways, taking out the occasional Shadow. As we turn a corner, the two of us come up on a small red treasure chest. I look at Emile to see if he has an explanation, but he just shrugs. I kick it open and find a ring adorned with a fire symbol on it inside. Out of sheer curiosity, I put the ring on and I can feel a surge of power.

"12 o' clock!" Emile calls out.

I quickly turn around to find three of the tongue Shadows rushing after us.

"_Persona!" _I scream as I crush the card in front of me. Ixion snaps his fingers, causing one Shadow to instantly explode in a flurry of red and black sludge.

_(Looks like that ring makes Agi skills stronger.)_

_ Fantastic._

Emile spins his pistol on his finger and fires it upward at the card that appears above his head. His Persona, Capaneus, brings his blade above his head and slams it down onto the next Shadow with incredible force, knocking it to the ground. The next Shadow rushes me, but I attack first with a leaping horizontal slice, catching it off guard and forcing it to the bloody tile floor, as well.

"They're all down! Let's get 'em!" Emile cries out.

I nod as the two of us rush to the fallen Shadows.

"Bring it, bitches!" Emile taunts as both of us jump on the Shadows, causing a cloud of smoke to appear around us all, giving us a chance to let loose on their defenseless forms.

_(Shuffle Time.)_

The cards begin to spin before me again. This time, I see a card with a blue cup and another one with a gold coin; however, the third one depicts a blue lady in a white shirt. I immediately assume that it must be another Persona. With perfect timing, I manage to grab the card with the girl on it. I take note that even Emile can't see Shuffle Time and that only I can.

_Must be a Wild Card thing._

As we come up to another group of Shadows, Emile takes the initiative and summons Capaneus, who holds his sword in the air, bringing forth a torrent of glowing green winds around one of the tongue Shadows and pushing it back to the wall.

"Yours has Garu skills?!"

"Yeah, but he's not too great at 'em!"

I jump and swing at another one, but I miss and land face-first on the ground, giving the Shadow an opportunity to lick me, sending a shock through my entire nervous system.

_Shit, that hurts!_

I hear the sound of bullets and tearing flesh as the Shadow above me disintegrates. Emile helps me up, patting my back and telling me to walk it off.

"I've got a better idea," I tell him.

A blank card appears in front of me, which then spins and disappears when I snap my finger. I then bring a glowing card to the palm of my hand in the same way I summon Ixion, but when I crush the card, the Persona that appears is nothing like Ixion at all. In his place is a pale blue-skinned woman draped in white wispy fabric and adorned with jewelry. She moves in a graceful dance-like motion as a field of energy surrounds me, physically reinvigorating me.

"Oh, what the hell?!" Emile states. "You get more than one Persona?! How is that fair?!"

"Never said it was," I retort. "Apsaras!" I say as I summon the Persona again, commanding her to heal Emile's wounds.

"And what was _that_? I feel awesome now!" Emile says as he stretches, testing out his renewed energy.

"A healing skill. Dia," I say, somehow recalling the name. "Let's finish up here. Using that move is starting to wear me out."

Taking out the next couple of Shadows quickly becomes a systematic process with minimal injuries. We come across a couple more treasure chests, picking up and storing the items in our Subspace (Emile came up with the name) for later use. In defeating a couple more large groups of Shadows, I attain a third Persona, this one being a small armored fairy girl with electric spells named Pixie, and I discover what the cards adorned with coins do – they actually earn me money. We eventually decide to head back out into the plaza and end our training session, having "leveled up" a few times.

"So, you're coming to hang out with me and Ally tomorrow?"

"Yeah, I'll meet up with you guys after school."

"Sounds good. See you tomorrow."

Emile slowly disappears into the fog as he returns to the real world, leaving me in the plaza with my thoughts and the overwhelming atmosphere. It's then that I notice a familiar door, propped up in thin air beside the clock tower. I chuckle slightly before opening the door with a loud creaking sound.

**{~}**

"Welcome to the Velvet Room…"

"Hey, Igor," I reply, taking my seat at the bar. "Tell me again how you know nothing about the Dream World?"

Igor only chuckles lightly, completely dodging the question. "I see now that you are in possession of multiple Personas! This is most excellent. I will allow my assistant, Margaret, to explain further."

The monotone blonde stands up from her seat and sits on the stool next to my own, bringing the leather-bound blue book with her.

"This," she says, with her hand lightly touching the cover. "Is known as the Persona Compendium. It allows you to register Personas you obtain and recall them at a later date, even if you used them in Persona Fusion."

"You mentioned Fusion when I was here last. How does that work?"

"If you have more than one Persona, my master will allow you to combine them into a singular Persona, one that is more powerful than what you would obtain through normal means. Not only may a fused Persona retain some of the skills of the ones used in Fusion, but it will also gain a boost in strength if its Arcana matches that of a Social Link you have attained."

I listen to her speech intently, taking in this new information. "So, if I fuse Apsaras and Ixion…"

"You would lose them in return for a new Persona," Margaret finishes. "But you may recall them from the Compendium…for a price."

_(Shoving me in a book. Harsh.)_

Igor chuckles in reaction to Ixion. "Ixion has no need to worry. He will not work in Fusion with either of the Personas that you currently hold. Besides, if Ixion were to be utilized in Fusion, he would still retain the ability to communicate with you as he is the Persona that reflects you."

"Oh, fantastic," I say in a sarcastic tone.

"Feel free to come to me at any time to use the Compendium. I will gladly offer my services," says Margaret.

"Well," I say as I rub my hands together. "Let's give this Fusion thing a go!"

Making sure all three of my Personas are registered in the Compendium, I summon the cards of Pixie and Apsaras, which float into the two empty points of the incomplete pentagram created by Igor. He scans his hands across the surface of the design, causing it to glow and the cards to burst into blue flames. He begins to shake as he lifts his two hands into the air, causing the two small pillars of flame to rise as well. As they reach their peak, they crash inward to the center of the pentagram, exploding in a flash of brilliant light. A woman in a skintight black jumpsuit and fur coat appears from the light, flicking her white fuzzy tail from side to side. Her fingers end in sharp claws and the lower half of her face somewhat resembles a black cat.

_(O-oh my…)_

_ Down, boy._

Thanks to my Magician Social Link with Emile, this new Persona, Nekomata, immediately gains some power, leveling up and attaining a new skill that can throw enemies into a blind rage called Provoke, and it even retained the skill Patra, which cures me and Emile from ailments. She transforms into another card, which floats down to me and disappears into my mind. Using the money I obtained from inside the fake school and from Coin Arcana cards in Shuffle Time, I recall both Pixie and Apsaras, bringing my total Persona count to four.

"Be aware that you can only hold up to six Personas at present," Igor tells me. "If you attain another, you must let one go free. Make a habit of recording Personas in the Compendium to prevent any unnecessary complications."

"Well, if that's all I can do today, then I guess I'll just be going now," I say as I stand up to leave.

"One moment, if you will," Igor says in a somewhat hushed tone.

"What is it?"

"I must warn you…difficult trials have been foretold in your near future," the old man admits. "Ones that test the very fabric of your being. Tread lightly, for your actions may alter the course of your destiny. Hold tight to the bonds you forge from here on out, as they will be the key to successfully completing your journey. Remember these words, and do not forget them."

"B-but what does-…"

"In time, their meaning will become apparent. I hope to see you again soon."

**{~}**

_(Can't sleep?)_

_ No._

I've been tossing and turning in my bed, attempting to sleep for nearly a half hour. My room is dark, save for the moonlight creeping through my blinds, casting a dim light of an eerily similar color to that of the Dream World across my bedroom floor. Igor's words pound at my brain with the strength of a hammer, scrambling my thoughts and making it hard to rest.

_Difficult trials…?_

_ (I can't figure out why he's being so cryptic. It sure as hell ain't helping you.)_

_ He probably has a reason for it…but yeah, it's getting on my nerves, too._

I roll over in my bed again, noticing the framed picture on my nightstand. It depicts a small child on the lap of a beautiful woman, both of them smiling and happy. Something about the expression on their faces brings be solace, and I once again feel calm. A smile creeps onto my face as fond memories come rushing back to me. I roll over in my bed one more time, finally enjoying the warm embrace of sleep.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

_-Wednesday, August 14__th__, 2013-_

_ What kind of bullshit school is this, giving students a quiz on the second week of school?!_

To be fair, the quizzes I've taken in the last few days have been somewhat simple because, clearly, they can't give insanely difficult tests this early in the year. On the other hand, this is physics class. When it comes to difficulty, I can tell they're not going to hold back.

The teacher spaced us out across the room in such a way that we can't cheat as easily, but it still wouldn't take much to glance over at Maria's paper to see what she got. I debate it for a while, taking into account how I could sneak it past the teacher and what Maria would say if she noticed. In the end, though, I decide against it. Too risky.

_What's the definition of "velocity"…? Gah, shit, I know this…_

_ (…hmm? What? I wasn't paying attention.)_

_ Shut up, Ixion, I'm concentrating._

The rest of the students all seem equally perplexed. One kid in the back with a messy mop of blonde hair is running his fingers through it, making it even more tangled up than it already was, the glasses kid next to me keeps rubbing the back of his neck and tapping his pencil like he's got a nervous twitch, and a girl up in the front's giving her test an expressionless stare, like she's having a staring contest with the thing. Sadly enough, I think the test is winning.

_A, "change in acceleration", B, "change in speed and direction", or C, "the speed of a mass"…_

_ (Really? This is what you're stressing over?)_

_ I didn't get much sleep last night. Cut me some slack._

I scratch a circle around B, hoping it's the right answer. It's the only one that sounds remotely correct, but I still have my doubts. I probably would've been more confident in my answer had I studied.

As the class period draws to a close, I turn in my test, accepting my fate as a total failure. Though I'd be lying if I said I didn't feel a sense of accomplishment in powering through it. Maria turns in her test as well and lets out a small sigh as she returns to her seat.

"How'd you do?" I ask her.

"The multiple choice section was really easy, but I don't think I did so well on the math…sheesh…"

_She did badly on the math section?! She's in an AP math class!_

_ (Kid, whatever god you've got, you better pray to 'em. You're gonna need it.)_

**{~}**

The rest of the school day goes without a hitch, though I ended up with a little more homework than I would've liked. Occasionally, my mind starts to remind me how much I have on my plate - school, homework, friends to hang out with, Social Links to keep up, Personas, the mysterious Dream World – but I force all these thoughts into the back of my head and only focus on what's going on right this moment. I spot Emile and Ally walking up to me as I messily toss school supplies into my backpack and throw it over my shoulder.

"Holy crap, your backpack is that messy already?" Emile scoffs.

"Yeah, I'm not really all that organized right now," I admit. "My teachers are making me take a lot of notes."

"Take a page from Ally," Emile says as Ally turns around for him to unzip her backpack. He points out the binders, one for each class, and all of them have their papers neat and tidy inside.

"They're all color-coded!" Ally proudly proclaims over her shoulder. "All of 'em have tabs and sections, too!"

I silently applaud the redhead's impressive organizational skills as Emile zips her backpack back up. She hops back around to face me – no, literally, hops – with a massive smile on her face, clearly proud of her handiwork.

"Emile's folders would be a complete mess if I didn't help him out with his stuff!" Ally jokes.

"Yeah, that's…kinda true, actually," Emile says. "You should see my room right now. It's a total pit."

"I've seen his room," Ally says, giving me a stern look. "And he's not kidding."

"I can organize things just fine," I tell them. "I just haven't come up with a system yet."

"Oh, I can help you come up with one if you want!" Ally offers. "None of my organizational systems have failed me in the…" Ally pauses to count on her fingers. "Ten years I've gone to school!"

"If you've got one that'll work for my classes, then lay it on me."

"We can do that when we get to the mall," Emile pipes up. "We're burnin' daylight. Let's go, guys."

The three of us manage to plow through the crowd of kids rushing to get out of this eternal hellhole and soon end up across the street at the outlet mall. The center plaza of the place has a large park for children to play in, though the elementary school doesn't let out until later in the day, so I've noticed high school couples spending what little quiet time they have in the lush grass. The warm sun seeps through the wall of bright white clouds across the sky, creating a setting that's warm but pleasantly cool as well. The birds in the trees lining the streets of the mall chirp their approval of the weather. We all sit in the grass together as Ally pulls out a large spiral notebook full of scribbles and doodles.

"So," Emile starts. "Have you picked a club to join yet? Some of them open next Monday."

"Oh, crap," I reply. "No, I forgot. I don't even know what there is…"

"Eh, you've got time. The school doesn't force you join one or anything. They're really lax about clubs."

"Are you going to join one?"

"I'm not sure, to be honest. I'm already in swim and I don't wanna overload myself."

"Unlike last year," Ally added. "You tried to do swim, a part-time job, and two different clubs all at once. You got so stressed out that you skipped school a whole bunch just to avoid the work, but then you ended up with such bad grades you almost got kicked out of swim."

"Oh my god, don't remind me," Emile says with a grimace.

The three of us continue to make small talk, bouncing through various topics like hobbies and what school was like before I moved here. A lot of the conversation became about Ally and Emile's childhood memories with each other, leading me to become somewhat of a third wheel, but I don't mind. I feel like I'm learning more about these two by listening in.

Ally eventually takes notice that Emile's been occasionally rubbing his eyes during this entire exchange and shows concern, asking him if he's feeling alright.

"Oh, yeah, I'm fine," he says. "I've been having a hard time sleeping lately is all."

I can't quite put my finger on it, but something's telling me he's lying through his teeth.

"What, have you been having weird dreams or something?" Ally jokingly asks.

_Oh shit._

Emile seems visibly distressed over the question, fidgeting in place ever so slightly.

"U-uh, yeah, you could say that…" he stammers.

"I've been having some pretty weird dreams lately, too," Ally says with a chuckle. "Like, so, I had this one where I was flying through the clouds, and then another one where Ellie and I were dancing together…"

"That's her little sister," Emile informed me. I nodded as Ally continued.

"And then there was another one where there was this big storm and I was running from something, but I can't remember what happened after that. What I do remember was really vivid, though."

Normally, talking about dreams would be one of my favorite topics; it's so easy to ramble on about them for hours on end. However, considering the recent turn of events, this entire thing is putting a knot in my stomach. Hearing someone talk about weird vivid dreams just isn't sitting right with me.

As if Lady Luck was looking out for me today, Ally's phone vibrates, distracting her from the subject at hand. She picks it up off the grass and scoffs.

"Oh my god, my mom's telling me to come home…" Ally says with extreme annoyance.

"Huh? Why?" I ask.

"I guess she has stuff to do and she can't leave Ellie home alone," Ally responds. "Sorry, guys, I gotta go."

"I can call my mom to pick us up," Emile offers.

"No, no, that's fine. You guys have fun. I can jog home. I'll see you guys tomorrow."

"O-oh, uh…alright, see ya," Emile says, sounding somewhat dejected.

Ally gives the both of us quick bear hugs, promises she'll help me organize my stuff later, and sprints off. By the time she's out of earshot, Emile has gone back to rubbing his eyes again.

"Dude, seriously, what's wrong?" I ask, more stern this time. It's then that I notice something that's odd to explain, but I feel more in-sync with Emile. It's almost as if everything he says and everything he does, I immediately empathize with, like we've been best friends for life.

_(Magician,) _my Arcana voice quietly states, reminding me of Emile's Arcana.

_Nekomata…that's right…the Magician Arcana…_

"Nothing, it's just…" Emile looks up at me, and I can assume he feels it, too. Having access to more Personas of more Arcana seems to give me the ability to switch how I think and feel, and switching to the Magician Arcana is providing me with an aura that Emile can trust more than usual.

"It's the Dream World, isn't it?" I say with a somewhat hushed tone.

Emile sighs. "Yeah, it's just stressing me out. We still have no idea why it's there or what we're supposed to do there."

"What makes you think we're supposed to do something?"

"You really think we got our Personas just to dick around? C'mon, I know you feel the same way. We were given these for a reason and we're supposed to use them for something. I just don't know what that something is."

He raises an interesting point. While Emile earned his Persona, he wouldn't have it if I hadn't gotten mine, and mine was just seemingly given to me. It's as if obtaining my Persona has started a chain reaction. But for what, and why?

"I say we just ride it out," I conclude. "No good's gonna come from rushing into this expecting to find answers. We can go in on occasion to train, but let's not do anything stupid while we wait for something to happen."

"Wait for _what_ to happen? Someone else to go into a coma?" Emile almost seems angry at this point. If I was in this position two weeks ago, I would've messed up and made Emile mad at me. However, having Nekomata makes a slight change in my approach.

"In the best-case scenario, nobody ever goes into a coma again and we don't have to worry about it anymore. But you're right; we were given Personas for a reason. I think that reason is to protect the people that get trapped in that other world, so we really don't have much of a choice but to wait it out."

Emile rubs his eyes again and groans slightly, sounding frustrated.

"Doing nothing but tearing apart Shadows isn't going to get us anywhere," I add. "We need to think and plan this through carefully, and pace ourselves. I have a gut feeling we'll get answers eventually."

A loud heavy sigh escapes Emile's chest. He seems to have calmed down, thankfully.

"Yeah…" Emile says. "Yeah, you're right. We'll stick through this. And if shit goes south, we've got each other's backs."

"Exactly," I say with a smile.

**SMASH**

**Thou art I,  
****And I am thou.**

**Thou hast strengthened thy bond  
****To the Second Rank.**

**Thou shalt be blessed when thou choosest  
****to make a Persona of the Magician Arcana…**

**{~}**

Emile and I eventually decide to walk back to our homes, though he splits off sooner since his neighborhood is closer to the school. As I reach my house, I notice that Aunt Joanne's car is in the driveway.

"Hey, Tyson," she welcomes me as I come inside. She's still in her light blue nurse's scrub for some reason.

"Hi," I respond as I put down my backpack. I make a mental note that it seems like she comes home earlier than normal on Wednesdays.

"Where'd you go?"

"Went to the mall with some friends. How was work?"

"Boring," she admitted. "Nothing interesting's been happening lately. Just the usual stuff. Oh, did you happen to check the billboard for jobs?"

"Yeah, but nothing really caught my attention. I might go back to it later when I feel I can handle a job."

"Well, I found something small for you if you want," she says with a smile. "There was a boy your age everyone in the neighborhood hired to mow their lawns, but he moved last week, so some people could use some help. I told them I'd ask you."

"Oh, yeah, sure," I replied. I'm not really keen on the idea of sweating in the hot sun, but I guess money's money.

"I'll let them know, then. The Andersons down the street said if you could help on Friday, they'd pay you."

I agree to take the opportunity, though I know mowing lawns won't be too big of an income. With how much I know I'll have going on in the future, what with Personas and all, taking a lot of small jobs like this might be a better alternative to getting a proper part-time job.

As night falls, I retreat to my room to spend some time on my computer, but not after making another entry in my journal.

"_August 14__th__,2013 – I have four Social Links right now, and I fused my first Persona yesterday. I've found that switching Arcana can be really useful for having good conversations with people. School's somewhat easy so far, and clubs open up on Monday. I have no idea what to join, though. I'll have to give it some thought."_

**{~}**

_-Thursday, August 15__th__, 2013-_

_ "…and we should see heavy thunderstorms this morning by roughly 9:00 AM, and it'll be on and off all afternoon and should last all through the night. Tomorrow, though, we should see the sun out again in all its glory, bringing us a bright end to the weekend."_

So far, it's looking like the weatherman could be right today. Thick, gray clouds are moving in across the sky, blotting out the sun and leaving the town in the dark. In fact, Mike already expects the worst; he texted me once he heard about the rain and we agreed to cancel track for the day. Looks like they don't normally meet on rainy afternoons.

I faintly hear the roar of a car engine as Maria and her brothers pull up onto my driveway. I wrap my toaster waffles up in a paper towel as I head out, feeling the light sprinkle of rain on my face.

My mom would always tell me to appreciate the calm before the storm when I was a little kid. The both of us loved rain, don't get me wrong, but for some reason, she would stress that the short time before a rainstorm was the best part. She and I would sit out on the balcony of our apartment, watching the clouds roll in and feeling the rain slowly begin to make its way down to the ground. I could never figure out exactly why she loved watching them make their way into the city, but I assumed it was the tension. You can almost feel the sky bracing itself for the unmatched strength of the coming storm.

Thinking back on it, maybe it was all a motherly metaphor. She could be really deep when she wanted to be.

As I climb into the car next to Maria, I sift through my Personas in my head, trying to see if any of their Arcana matches her own. Unfortunately, none of them do; Ixion is Fool, Apsaras is Temperance, and Pixie and Nekomata are both Magician. I must've spaced out while doing this because I notice Maria's giving me a weird look in my peripheral. Trying to cover up the awkward, I try to make small talk while her brothers bicker between each other.

"Almost wish it wasn't gonna rain today," I tell Maria. "I was supposed to have track today."

"I like the rain," she responds. "I just don't like the thunder. I used to be scared of it as a kid, and I never completely got over it."

I mutter an agreement with her and look for something else to say. Now I'm kicking myself for never picking up a High Priestess Persona. After a few seconds of awkward silence, I remember something.

"Oh, how'd that portrait contest go?"

Maria immediately perks up at the mention of her art.

"I got 2nd place, actually!" she happily exclaims. "So it's gonna be shown at the next county-wide art gallery, and I win a little bit of money for it."

"Wow, that's great," I exclaim. "Nice job!"

"Oh, what a sham," her middle school brother interjects, having overheard our conversation. "Anyone can win something like that. Art's not that hard."

"Yeah, anyone can turn anything into art," her sophomore brother adds from the front seat. "Hell, I could glue a couple cans together and someone could consider it art."

"Didn't someone do that last year?" the eighth grader says.

I can feel my blood boiling as these guys keep talking. What sort of family talks about their younger sister's passion like this? I expected them to encourage her, not shoot her down. I glance over at Maria, who has completely locked up and zoned out.

_There goes that conversation._

We finally get to the high school after dropping off her weasel of a little brother and her two eldest brothers speed off to find their friends. I'm tempted to kick a dent in her brother's car when nobody's looking, but I'm not _that _much of a dick. I notice Maria getting out of the car in somewhat of a rush, so I try to keep up the same pace as her as she's clearly frustrated.

"You okay?" I ask. There's probably a better way to handle this, but may as well start blunt.

"They don't get it," she says, slowing down her walking speed a bit. "They just don't get the thought and care that goes into art. Yeah, there was a pile of cans at the last one, but it was part of a bigger piece about what we can do to recycle. They're so narrow-minded…"

She doesn't sound mad, oddly enough. The tone of her voice sounds more disappointed and broken than anything else, like she's about to crack under the pressure of her brother's words.

"Not everyone's going to understand the meaning of everything," I say, trying to calm her down.

"Yeah, I know, but I at least wish my brothers of all people wouldn't be so mean about it. They could at least keep it to themselves."

"If it makes you feel any better, I really like what you showed me of your art. You deserve the recognition. Besides, that art gallery? It's not there to please your brothers. Their opinion doesn't matter in the end. As long as you're proud of what you've done, that's all that matters."

I'm not entirely sure where that spiel came from, but it seems I drove home the point. Maria sighs, finally flashing a smile again, and nods.

"Yeah…yeah, you're right," she says. "Thank you…"

We walk the last few steps into the school, and, knowing she goes the opposite way, I prepare myself to say goodbye, but she has other plans – she hugs me. It's a small and quick side hug, but one that I don't turn down.

**SMASH**

**Thou art I,  
****And I am thou.**

**Thou hast strengthened thy bond  
****To the Second Rank.**

**Thou shalt be blessed when thou choosest  
****to make a Persona of the High Priestess Arcana…**

"S-see you later," she says with a shy grin.

_(You've got a way with words, kid.)_

_ I guess I do, yeah._

_ (Don't let that get to your head.)_

**{~}**

As much as I like rain, it has a horrible downside of causing extreme drowsiness. My history teacher is rambling on and on about different stuff relating to the Revolutionary War that I've already learned back in middle school in New York. I slowly find myself becoming less interested by the minute, and I can feel my consciousness slipping through my fingers. In most cases, drowsiness is nothing I can't power through, but the exploration in the Dream World the other night have left me kinda tired and I haven't been able to catch up on the lost time.

_Screw this._

I prop my head on my hand somewhat low to the surface of the desk and allow myself to pass out. Thankfully, Ixion's power to send me into the Dream World also means he has the ability to not send me there, so I don't have to go in every time I sleep. Though, it does feel odd having dreams now, all things considered.

This dream in particular is just outright bizarre. I'm running the track beside Mike, which seems normal, only the track isn't the one at the school and there are a lot of people behind us. After some time passes, I realize we're commandeering an army instead of running, with Emile in the ranks directly behind me. He's rambling off nonsensical things and it starts to grate my nerves, but that's when I snap awake again. Perfect timing, too; there's only 2 minutes left in the class.

Feeling slightly refreshed from that short nap, I throw my stuff into my bag to get ready to leave.

_-wanna go back in tonight-_

My phone lights up with that text from Emile just as the bell rings. I quickly snap it away from eyeshot of anyone considering the text could sound really odd out of context.

_-Why tonight?- _I type.

_-i dunno, just wanna. wouldnt hurt-_

He's not wrong, but I'm curious as to why he wants to go to the Dream World again so badly. I'm about to turn him down and say that I need a good night's sleep, but then I remember the problem from this morning – my lack of a Persona of the High Priestess Arcana. In fact, I should probably have at least one Persona for all the Social Links I have.

_-Yeah, alright.-_

**{~}**

"Dude, does something feel different to you?"

Emile and I have met up in the plaza of the Dream World, only the fog seems a little thinner. I can't pinpoint why, but I feel a little different, too, as if my mind is clearer than it usually is. The endless void past the plaza is dark and cloudy, and what looks like rain is falling from above.

"It must be because it's raining," I suggest. "Plenty of people sleep easier when it's raining, so maybe that affects something."

"Could be," Emile agrees. "I dunno, I just feel tougher tonight."

"Alright, well, I've been really tired the past few days, so let's make this a short training session."

"Me too. Let's do it."

The two of us rush headfirst into the corrupted school, immediately encountering and destroying a familiar Shadow with ease. Shuffle Time appears again, and this time I pick up a small white jester-looking thing with a blue cap and a huge grin who calls himself Jack Frost. Sadly, it's another Magician, but I'll take what I can get. The next group doesn't put up much of a fight, but instead come across as almost annoying. Emile and I are decimating these Shadows without much of a problem.

"Maybe we should go deeper," Emile suggests.

"Why? The Shadows only get stronger the further we go."

"Yeah, I know, that's why I want to. These things aren't going to make us stronger."

_(He's right. I'm barely getting any energy at all from taking these out.)_

"Ugh, alright, fine. Hurry up, then!"

After making our way down another floor, we find a strange Shadow clot that looks nothing like what we've fought before. This one is covered in a glowing red haze and moves around in an erratic fashion, like it's had way too much caffeine.

"Stop gawking and kill the sucker!" Emile says, firing a bullet into the clot.

"Emile, wait-!"

The mass explodes into a gaseous substance and swirls around in the air, forming into three distinct entities made up of nothing but spurting gas and masquerade masks. They all let out a sharp cry and pose menacingly.

…well, as menacingly as gas can pose.

"Whoa…" Emile says, staring at the Shadows.

"You said you wanted to kill 'em," I say, pushing Emile forward. "Go get 'em, buddy!"

"Oh, come on!" Emile retorts.

He has little time to debate, though. The gassy Shadows rush Emile and cast a fire spell that appears to be way stronger that Ixion's, though Emile takes it like a champ and is barely pushed back at all.

_Oh, yeah…his Persona is resistant to Agi._

A helpful little titbit about our Personas is that Emile and I can see in our minds how much "health" we have left before we can't take any more hits. It definitely feels odd and somewhat terrifying being able to see your own mortality, but in the heat of battle, you're sure as hell thankful for it.

I run past Emile and jump up to slice the Shadow, only my sword bounces straight off of its mask, sending me down to the ground in recoil.

"What the hell?!"

"Let me try!" Emile says. "_Capaneus!_"

Emile shatters the card with the butt of his pistol, calling forth Capaneus to slam his broadsword against the shrieking Shadow. Unfortunately, it has the same effect – the sword bounces right off.

"Alright, what gives?!" Emile yells, as if calling out the world for failing him.

"Don't keep using physical moves," I tell him. "They don't seem to work and they lower your health!"

I summon Pixie and cast Zio, but to my dismay, that doesn't work either. The thunderbolt doesn't affect the Shadow whatsoever. Emile gives the wind skill Garu a shot, which doesn't work either.

"This just isn't fair!" Emile whines as the Shadow slams him with another fire blast. Since it's bigger than the ones Ixion casts, I assume it's Agilao instead of the standard Agi.

Shuffling through my Personas, I start to panic. If these Shadows are unaffected by Physical, Wind, Fire, and Electric, the only thing I have left to try is this Ice spell from Jack Frost. We may both be able to resist Agilao, but if we can't hit those things at all…

_Calm down, Tyson… _I think to myself. _You've got this…_

The card of the jester floats down in front of me, and I slice clean through it with my blade.

_"Jack Frost! Bufu!"_

The tiny little capped demon appears, does a backflip, and floats there as he waves his arms, throwing crystalline energy in the direction of one of the Shadows.

A decently-sized block of ice encases the gas cloud and shatters, causing the sickening sound of a Shadow taking a hit to ring out through the hallway.

"Oh thank god!" Emile sighs in relief.

As the first Shadow falls to the ground in pain, I take the chance to cast Bufu another two times on each of the Shadows. Using all that mental energy in one go causes me to space out for a short moment.

"What're we waiting for?! We have an opening!" Emile yells, calling me back to attention.

"No, don't storm them!" I say, remembering the previous attempts at physical attacks.

"Oh, bummer…"

I cast Bufu a few more times to finish off the clouds, mentally thanking Jack Frost for coming to my assistance. Feeling somewhat drained from using that spell so many times, I lean against the wall to take a breather.

"You alright man?" Emile asks. "You wanna go back?"

I look inside myself again to check on my mental health. It's really not all that low; I'm just not used to this feeling.

"No, I'm fine," I tell him. "Let's go a little further."

We go down one more floor to the school, running into the familiar door to the school's pool. As we approach it, Emile becomes visibly disturbed.

"What is it?" I ask him.

"I can get past the creepy posters," he says. "But I'm not sure if I can go back in there…"

I notice an inky blackness coming from underneath the door, curling up against it like it's begging to be let out.

"I feel like we need to go in there at some point, though…"

"Yeah, I know, just…not today."

Accepting his reasoning, I agree to wander this floor a bit instead of going through the door. We find these Shadows to be tougher, but not so tough that we have any noticeable issues. I rush up to a tiara-wearing Shadow, feeling a pleasurable tug in my gut as I swing at it with my blade, somehow knowing exactly where to hit it for the best damage. The slice hits it so violently that it collapses to the ground with a wet thwacking sound.

_Critical hit!_

_ (Seriously, where do all these terms keep coming from?)_

I summon Ixion to attack another Shadow, feeling a buzz in the back of my skull as I yell out his name. Ixion slices at the Shadow, causing the same effect with this Shadow as it did with the other one.

_Critical…hit…?_

The third masked Shadow goes in to headbutt Emile before I can defend him. He doesn't react fast enough and he gets rammed straight in the stomach, only his health doesn't go down nearly as much as I expected it would. I cover him by hitting the Shadow with a Zio from Pixie, yet again feeling the buzz in my skull.

_The hell is going on…?!_

"They're all down! Let's get 'em!"

We rush the fallen Shadows, beating them into a literal pulp. Black and red sludge covers us from head to toe at this point. Luckily, this stuff doesn't end up on our clothes in the real world. Otherwise, I'd have a really hard time explaining that.

"How'd you do that?" Emile asked. "Those attacks looked like they really hurt!"

"I don't know…" I told him in all honesty. "It's like I just got lucky and kept landing critical hits."

_(Will someone _please _explain to me what that means?!)_

It's then that I notice Emile's health isn't nearly as low as mine. Somehow, he's been taking hits like an armored tank.

"And what about you?" I ask him.

"What about me?"

"How have you barely taken any damage from this? I'm freakin' exhausted!"

Emile looks perplexed for a minute. It seems like he's as confused as I am. Suddenly, his face perks up.

"The rain!" he proclaims.

"The hell does that mean?"

"Earlier, when we came in here! We both mentioned we felt different and you said it might be the rain." He grins and clenches his fist. "It's like the rain gives us stat boosts or something!"

_(For the love of-…)_

Thinking on it for a moment, I realize he's probably right. In the grand scheme of things, it's definitely not the least plausible thing I've heard. In fact, those gassy Shadows that we hadn't seen before could've been caused by the rain, too.

"Well, in that case," I say, twirling my sword in my hand. "Let's kick some ass!"

Emile and I continue to tear down Shadow after Shadow, hitting them with everything we've got. We get plenty of openings thanks to my tendency for perfect hits, and Emile's just absorbing blows like nobody's business. Occasionally, I switch to Apsaras and use Dia to make sure the both of us are healthy.

After a while, I find my mental energy has been utterly drained. I rely on sword swings for a while to compensate, but both of us quickly realize that if I can't heal either of us because of my low energy, either we'll outright pass out from using too many physical spells or we'll get killed.

"I'm done, man," I tell him, feeling faint. "We gotta go."

"Heh, buzzkill," he mockingly tells me.

We both turn for the stairs, but something feels horribly wrong. I'm about to blame it on how drained I feel, but when Emile hesitates to look around the room, I know it's not just me. The hallway has gotten incredibly dark, and the walls have begun to pulsate with red veins, almost like the school's a beating heart. Fog similar to what's normally in the plaza has covered the floor, only it's much thicker and it's a sickly black color. The atmosphere in the Dream World has always felt suffocating, but this feels different. It's a claustrophobic, panicky feeling, like the room's going to shrink in on us and crush us.

_Clink…clink…_

The sound of rustling chains sends chills up my spine. Emile's eyes go wide, and the both of us slowly turn around to the source of the sound.

A floating cloaked figure with a singular glowing eye under its hood rounds the corner, slowly inching its way toward us. Rusty chains dangle from the figure, causing metallic sounds to bounce around the room. Dark fog seeps from the torn holes in its cloak, and it holds two absolutely massive revolvers, one in each hand.

One look at the thing, and I can immediately tell we're going to die.

"Holy shit…" Emile whispers.

_(Tyson…) _Ixion says with a level of fear in his voice that I have never heard.

I'm utterly speechless in the presence of this horrifying creature. I only spring into action when its cold eye glances directly at me, piercing my very soul.

_"RUN!" _I yell to Emile.

"Don't have to tell me twice!" he quips as the two of us barrel down the hallway as fast as our pubescent legs can possibly take us. We've both opted to store our weapons in our Subspace; they'd only slow us down. A loud gunshot sounds out, and the wall beside us erupts in a blast of fire and rubble rains down on top of us.

_How could it miss with that…?!_

The thick fog causes me to nearly trip over my own foot, but thankfully I recover quickly. As we round the hallway, we can see the staircase that would normally lead to the science section of the school, only this one will guarantee us survival.

"The stairs! Go for the stairs!" I command Emile as I push him in their general direction. Another gunshot causes the floor just behind us to explode with a blast of freezing cold energy.

"It's gaining on us!" Emile screams.

Just as the clinking of chains starts to get too close for even less comfort, we finally make it to the stairs and sprint to safety. A quick scan of this floor shows no signs of abnormality, and the cloaked figure has stopped at the base of the stairs, staring at us with its eye of death.

"This isn't the place to rest," I tell Emile, trying to help him slow his breathing. He nods as we both head for the stairs to the next floor and then the exit, ignoring the Shadows on the way there. Being in the plaza has never felt this great.

Emile hunches over and grabs his knees, and attempts to calm down with deep breaths. I just flat-out throw myself onto the ground, my chest heaving. My physical health is low, my mental health is even lower, and my level of tolerance for this miserable place is rock-bottom.

"I'm…I…" Emile tries to talk in between breaths. "I'm going…I'm going home…"

I try to say something, but nothing comes out. I opt to wave at him and nod instead. Using Capaneus, he disappears into the fog to go back to his bed.

**{~}**

"No time passes here, right?" I ask.

"You would be correct," Igor replies with a wide smile.

I take a drink of the pop while sitting at the Velvet Room bar and lay my head down on the counter.

"I just…I need a moment…"

"I can tell your Spiritual Energy is remarkably low, my young guest…it would be wise to sleep."

"Spiritual…what?"

Igor chuckles, which is honestly the last thing I want to hear right now.

"I believe previous guests would refer to it as 'Spirit Points', or 'SP', for short. You are aware that if a Persona exerts physical energy that you will lose energy as well, but what's less apparent is your mental connection to your Persona."

"Using element skills makes me tired…" I deduce, cutting Igor off. "Dammit, that should've been obvious…"

"Do not fret over a lack of knowing," Igor says. "It is natural to be unsure of things, even if they are right under your nose."

_…is that a pun? I feel like that's a pun._

I take a deep breath. Igor's right. I need to go back to my bed and sleep this off. Plus, the Shadow blood is starting to get sticky.

I finish off my cup, register my Personas with Margaret, thank the both of them for the hospitality, and head back into the real world.

**{~}**

_-Friday, August 16__th__, 2013-_

I have never felt this tired in my life. I swear, every bone in my body cracks as I stretch in my bed. I force myself to stand up, feeling the adventure the night before start to take its toll on my body. Not even a piping-hot shower wakes me up, and it usually does. Of course, saying I'm tired because I almost died last night isn't an excuse I can throw around, so I suck it up and head for school with Maria and her asshole brothers.

Seems Emile is as tired as I am, too. Sitting in 7th period math, we barely say a word to each other, but the looks on our faces tell each other all we need to know. In fact, halfway through the lesson, Emile passes right out. Any other day I'd wake him up, but today, I'll let it slide. After the teacher finishes the lesson and passes out homework, I take a small nap myself until the bell rings.

"Are…you two okay?" Ally says to us as we literally stumble out of class.

"Mm-mm…" Emile says, shaking his head.

"Tired…" I say, slightly more awake after the power nap, but not by much. "We were up late."

"How late?" she asks.

"Too late," I say. I don't mean to be vague and short with her, but that's all I have the energy to do.

"Well, maybe you should nap when you get home?"

"Good idea; I'm leaving, bye," Emile says quickly after gathering the energy to speak. He hobbles off without even giving Ally a hug like he normally does.

"I wish I could," I admit to the confused sophomore. "I have to go mow someone's lawn today."

"Making that sweet cash-money, huh?" Ally says with a laugh.

All I can do is nod in response.

Ally frowns slightly and reaches into her backpack, pulling out a bottle of soda.

"Here, take this. I didn't open it yet. Maybe it'll keep you up."

I gladly accept her offer and thank her, giving her a light hug before heading for the bus.

"Go to bed early today!" she calls out after me.

"No promises," I wearily call back.

**SMASH**

_Wait, hold on, what?_

**Thou art I,  
****And I am thou.**

**Thou hast established a new bond,  
****One that brings freedom ever closer.**

**Thou shalt be blessed when thou choosest  
****to make a Persona of the Star Arcana…**

_O-oh…sick._

**{~}**

Thankfully, I feel slightly more awake after chugging down the pop. When I get home, I find a note left by Aunt Joanne telling me which house to go to and how to start up her lawnmower. Looking at the thing, I can tell it hasn't been used in years. My suspicions are confirmed when I can't even get the damn thing to start. Pulling out some old tools, I go to work on the machine, trying to get it to properly turn on. After what feels like hours but was probably only a half hour, I finally get the engine roaring with life. Feeling proud of myself for working through this tough spot, I wheel the mower to the Anderson's house with renewed vigor.

Greeting the father of the house with a handshake, I explain who I am and he recalls the conversation he had with Aunt Joanne. Pleased, he recommends I start with the left half of his yard.

"I find it easier to start there," he tells me. "It's the bigger side, so once you get that over with, the rest is a breeze."

I spend the afternoon chugging away at the lawn, only taking a short break for some lemonade the mother offered me. Looking at the lawn as I finish, I find it to not be the best, but the father insists I did well and pays me for my work. I thank him, and trek the lawnmower and myself back up to my house, feeling accomplished for a job well done.

_Maybe I could apply for that bike mechanic job after all…_

**{~}**

_-The next morning…-_

_Vrrrrt…_

_Vrrrrt…_

I groan as I roll over in my bed. It's Saturday morning, and I finally have a chance to sleep, and someone's calling me? This is some sick joke, right?

_Vrrrrt…_

_Oh my god, shut UP!_

I snatch the phone from my nightstand and accept the call without checking to see who it is.

"What?"

A familiar voice speaks to me from the other end of the line, sounding stressed, panicked, and worried all at the same time.

"Tyson, dude, you're not gonna believe this," Emile says, almost on the brink of snapping.

"What is it, Emile? I need to sleep."

"It's Ally," he says. "She's in the hospital…she's in a coma…"


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

_-Saturday, August 17__th__, 2013-_

On the outer edge of Gode, where the airport is, the town turns more into a half-city, with smaller skyscrapers, business buildings, a shopping mall, a movie theater, and stuff like that. It doesn't take long at all to get out there from the rural center, all things considered; the town isn't incredibly large so the traffic is sparse.

Thanks to this, I can get to Gode Memorial Hospital in record time.

Aunt Joanne drives me there as soon as I explain to her what Emile told me. It took a moment for her to take it in, but she recovered quickly. Walking into the hospital, I can tell she's not used to coming in on a Saturday, and her coworkers react the same way, asking her why she's here but swiftly realizing the reason. She seems somewhat shaken up.

As for me? I don't know what to think.

"How is she?" I ask, walking up to Emile. He's sitting on a bench in the waiting room with his hands covering his face. He's not crying, but it looks like he had been.

"Fine," Emile replies with the saddest voice I've ever heard. "She's…she's fine. Just out cold."

Noticing that his family is nowhere to be seen, I ask him how he even got here.

"They took me here. They were here earlier, but they had to leave."

"How long have you been here?"

"Probably five hours," he responds after checking the clock on the wall.

"It's only 9 in the morning…"

"I know," he says with a yawn.

I take a seat next to Emile, feeling the weight of the situation. The bags under his reddened eyes speak volumes to me. We already know what being in a coma could imply, but neither of us brings it up. The tension in the room is too heavy to talk about that right now.

"Have you gone in to see her yet?"

"Yeah," Emile replies. "Earlier this morning."

He sits in silence for a moment. I let him, assuming that saying anything could set him off. He needs the silence. To my surprise, though, he speaks up.

"It feels wrong," he says. "She's so energetic. Even when she's sleeping, I know she'll bounce to her feet when she wakes up. But looking at her now…" He trails off, looking down the hallway. "She's lifeless…"

I continue to be silent. I've only known Ally for about a week, but I know she's strong-willed and a generally happy person. It's utterly shocking to think she could get trapped like Emile did…

"How long do we have?" Emile asks.

"What…?"

"How long until she's gone?" He looks at me with broken yet fierce eyes, demanding to know the answer.

I take a deep breath and try to come up with one.

"The radio host was out for a week before she died," I tell him. "I think it's safe to assume we've got that long." I look back at him, looking for a response. Getting nothing but more silence, I ask, "How do you know that's what it is?"

"Her dreams," he tells me. "When she mentioned vivid dreams? She explained them to me later that night when her parents got home. They were mostly nonsensical, but I could tell they were a lot like mine."

"You had dreams before you got trapped?"

"Yeah, I did. Both my dreams and her own focused on one thing: staying asleep. All the dreams were either too good to wake up from or someone was taunting us, or threatening us if we left. They start off subtle, but eventually…it's like they get angry. And at that point…"

I think back to my own nightmares when I first moved to this town. They sound eerily similar to Emile's description of his and Ally's dreams. Starting simple and getting into your head…perhaps this is how the Shadows work. Though I wonder why my nightmares escalated as rapidly as they did.

Aunt Joanne approaches us and asks us if we want to see Ally. I really want to, but Emile just leans back against the wall.

"I can't…" he says. "Not again…"

"You sure…?"

"Yeah…you go ahead." Emile leans his head back and stares up at the ceiling, taking in another loud breath.

I nod to Aunt Joanne and rise to my feet, following her to Ally's room. We slowly enter, finding an unmoving figure underneath the bed sheets. On a chair next to her is an older woman, presumably her mother. Her red hair matches the shade of her daughter, only it's longer and, at the moment, is messy and standing up in some places with static. She must've not had time to shower this morning. I also notice her father's absence; with her little sister gone as well, that must mean they're at home.

"Who are you?" she asks us. Her voice sounds annoyed, but sad at the same time, like she's angry but too tired and upset to really care.

"O-oh, um…Tyson," I tell her. "I'm, uh…I'm Ally's friend from school. Friend of Emile, too. And this is my aunt. We wanted to see if she's okay."

She nods in realization, and then returns to being silent and stares back at her daughter.

"When did you realize she was in a coma?" Aunt Joanne asks.

Ally's mom seems somewhat on-edge, but she answers anyway.

"She came home from school Friday and took a nap," she says. "But she…she never woke up."

I look at Aunt Joanne with a face telling her she should stop. She takes the hint and goes quiet. I approach the bed to look down at the face of the usually hyperactive redhead and feel a twinge of worry. Emile's right; seeing her like this feels wrong. She's not moving at all, and her face, which would normally be spouting words a mile a minute, is completely still. It's calm, but not in a reassuring way. It's _too_ calm, like she's going to cease to exist at any moment and any attempt to pull her back from drifting into the darkness is futile.

_(Star,) _my Arcana voice says to me. Only it's much quieter this time, as if it's fading away.

_(…You okay, kid?)_

_ No…I don't think I am._

_ (You have the power to save her, you know.)_

_ I know I do…I just can't believe this happened again. I saw the signs. I should've known._

_ (Even if you did, you couldn't have done anything about it.)_

_ That's the worst part. Actually, even worse; what if I can't save her? What if I mess up?_

_ (Then I guess that's life. But I'd say making an effort to save her is better than just giving up.)_

_ …yeah. You're right._

I take a deep breath, feeling a fire burn deep in my heart. I turn to the door and storm out of the hospital room, leaving Aunt Joanne confused, and walk straight up to Emile. He's not going to keep looking broken like this if I have anything to say about it. He looks up at me with a puzzled expression as I approach him.

"We're going to save her," I tell him in a hushed but serious tone. "She's not going to die. I refuse to let that happen. And you're backing me up."

Emile looks at me, shocked at my newfound determination.

"You said it yourself," I continue. "You want to get stronger to save the people who suffered through the same thing you did. If what you said is true, then we're going to beat those Shadows so hard that there won't be anything left of them."

His face changes from shock to a slight smile. A glimmer appears behind his eyes. We both know what we have to do.

**SMASH **

**Thou art I,  
And I am thou. **

**Thou hast strengthened thy bond  
To the Third Rank. **

**Thou shalt be blessed when thou choosest  
to make a Persona of the Magician Arcana…**

"We've got this," I tell him as he stands up.

"I know we do," he agrees with a smile. A damaged one, but still a smile nonetheless. "So, what's the plan?"

"Well, the first step," I tell him. "Is going home and sleeping. You've been here since four in the morning and you look like hell."

Emile looks slightly upset at my comment, and having Jack Frost equipped lets me know why – he wants to act now.

"We're not going to do any good in this state," I add. "We need to sleep and plan this out. Otherwise, we'll both end up dead. Like I said, we have a week."

"Ugh…dammit, fine," he says, yawning yet again.

"We'll spend today resting, and we'll figure out everything tomorrow," I suggest. "C'mon, I'll have my aunt take us home."

**{~}**

_-Sunday, August 18__th__, 2013-_

Emile and I spent the majority of yesterday sleeping, though he definitely slept longer than I did. I told him to meet up at my house while Aunt Joanne went off to work so we could discuss the situation in private. This also gave us a perfect liaison for Ally's condition, knowing my aunt would likely be at the hospital all day. Emile eventually arrives at my house, looking somewhat beat and a little depressed, but still considerably better than he was yesterday morning.

What's slightly bothering me, though, is his occasional sniffle.

"So do we go in tonight?" he asks almost immediately after we enter my room.

"I'm not sure," I admit, analyzing his face. "Are you sick?"

"What? No, I'm fine!"

He sneezes.

_Liar._

"You didn't get enough sleep, and now you're sick."

"N-no, really, I'm-…" He sneezes again. "Ugh…"

"Going into the Dream World frequently seems like a bad idea," I tell him.

"Well, it's not that," he says with a sniffle. "It's cuz I got up at four in the morning yesterday."

"It's a combination of both," I retort. I swear his ego's going to do him in one day. "How soon can you get better?"

"I don't stay sick for long," Emile explains. "I'll probably be fine tomorrow if I drink a lot of orange juice."

"Then we'll go in tomorrow."

"No, we can't do that. We can't waste any more time."

"Emile, what did I tell you? We need to pace ourselves. Believe me, I want to get her out of there as soon as possible, but we can't do that if you're sick."

"How do you know I'll even be sick when we go into the Dream World?"

"Have you ever had a dream when you were sick?" I tell him with a snarky half-smile. "Nobody is ever right in the head when they're sick, so if we're literally fighting inside our minds, I wouldn't expect a very good performance outta you."

It's a tough pill for Emile to swallow, but pushing back the day of our first rescue attempt is in our best interest. I'm not lying, either; I desperately want to save Ally. I'm putting on a calm front, but I'm actually completely terrified that we won't get her in time. Even still, we can't rush into things, or shit's gonna go south. The worst part of it is that we'll have to juggle this alongside school. Obviously, we can't skip, because any honest explanation would get us sent to the psych ward on the spot.

School, saving lives, Social Links...my plate couldn't possibly get any fuller than it already is.

_Knock on wood._

Speaking of Social Links, I'm suddenly realizing that I'm getting somewhere in all the Links I have, but the problem is that I don't have very many of them. My range of Arcana to power up in Fusion is gonna be kinda limited if it stays like this. I end up blaming it on a combination of being busy, being the new kid at school, and that I haven't been getting out of the house alone nearly as much as I should be.

"What kind of stuff did you have to go through while rescuing me?" Emile asks, snapping me out of my thought process. "Just so I know what to expect."

I think for a moment, trying my best to recall the events.

"Lots of Shadows," I tell him. "Those will get in your way a lot. I tried to convince you of the fact that you were dreaming when I found you, but you got kinda irate and the Shadows took over at that point."

"I remember that part," Emile says, wincing. He holds back a sneeze before continuing. "Anything else?"

"I found this crack in the wall that, when I looked into it, showed me what looked like repressed memories of yours. It kinda helped me piece together what your little personal world was based on. Oh, and this is just a theory, but I'm going to assume Ally's dream…thing…is gonna be way different from yours, considering they seem to be based on your dreams. We'll probably have new Shadows to fight and new stuff to deal with."

Emile nods in agreement, and then shakes his head in frustration.

"Alright, our mini dream world things need a name," he says. "This is going to get really annoying really quickly."

"Yeah, you're right," I agree. We need to know what to call them so we don't have to explain what they are every time, but what could we possibly call them?

"Mini dreams," Emile suggests.

"Sounds like a kid's toy," I say, shooting it down. "Nightmares?"

"That'll make it more confusing. Dream holes?"

_(Soul patches.)_

_ Oh my god, no._

"Sleep warps," I say.

"Wet dreams?"

"You're disgusting."

"Fine; moist dreams."

"Focus, Emile."

"Um…dream…a Dream Matrix?"

"No, that…" I stop myself. "Actually, that's not too bad. Makes sense and sounds badass at the same time."

"See, I have good ideas sometimes," Emile says with a cocky smile and a sniffle.

"You just have to try a little harder than the rest of us," I respond jokingly.

**{~}**

Emile and I tried to relax for a bit by playing video games, though Emile's cold progressively got worse, so he opted to go home and sleep the rest of the day so he could recover faster. Now, I'm just kinda sitting in my room, staring at the wall.

_(…kid?)_

_ Hmm?_

_ (Why are you staring at the wall…?)_

_ Because I can._

_ (That's-…there's literally millions of other things you could do.)_

_ I'm aware._

_ (…)_

_ What?_

_ (Get up.)_

_ Ugh, fine._

I guess sitting around all day and wasting time is a bad idea in this scenario. In fact, I've got a gut feeling that Ally would kick me if she knew I was doing nothing productive, even if it is a day off from school. Remembering my earlier thought on Social Links, I figure I may as well get out of the house and do something.

Sixteen years old and I'm working on making new friends. I thought I was past this a long time ago.

Considering it's a Sunday, I figure plenty of kids my age could be at the outlet mall, so I decide to head there. To be honest, I don't see what the hype is about this place. Yeah, there's a lot of stores, but to be the prime hangout place for virtually everyone in the school? It seems odd to me. Then again, there's nothing else to do in this part of town, so I guess I can't fault them too much. Luckily for me, my suspicions were right – there are loads of teenagers here, all laughing with their friends.

_Initiate Operation Social Link._

_ (Oh my gods…)_

I walk the pathways alone for a moment, scouting out potential targets. I eventually find two girls sitting together on a bench, talking about boys or something like that. They seem about a grade younger than me, so I figure this could work. I approach the two of them with a smile.

"Hey, ladies," I say. I mentally kick myself. That is _not _how you greet a woman, but I roll with it anyway. Get stuck in the hole, may as well keep digging and hope you find gold. "How're you doing today?"

"What's it matter to you?" the one on the right says. She's got brunette hair with a thin blue highlight on the right side and, according to my Arcana Voice, she's Strength, the Arcana of self-reliance and confidence.

"Just being friendly," I tell her, semi-honestly. "In a good mood today is all."

"Well, we're not," says her blonde friend. She's the Chariot Arcana, symbolizing determination and aggressiveness.

I'm immediately regretting this.

"Go find someone else to bother," Strength girl says. "We're in the middle of something."

_Ouch._

I nod an apology and head off down the pathway with a brisk movement.

_(That could've gone better.)_

_ No shit._

I try talking to a boy about my age this time, only he actually recognizes me from school.

_(Emperor.)_

"It's Timmy, right?" he asks.

"Tyson, actually…"

"Look, Tyrone," he says, completely oblivious. "I've got somewhere to be, so I'll have to catch up with your later."

The guy walks off after giving me a 'friendly' pat on the back. I give a half-assed wave goodbye as he sprints to meet his friends, fully aware of the 'Kick Me' sticky note he slapped on my back. I rip it off and drop it in the trash, cursing the maturity level of my generation under my breath.

"Stupid little-…" I say to myself. I cut myself off as I pass the alleyway between two shops, hearing a strange sound that scrambles my thoughts.

_Is that a spray can…?_

I turn to look down the alley. It's the same one with the Velvet Room door, but I know whoever came down here probably walked right through it. Nobody's in my immediate view, so I walk further down between the sub shop and antique store, the sound getting louder.

Turning the corner, I find a stocky teen my age with long black hair spilling out from the sides of his dirty gray beanie. Stubble and acne cover his face, and he stands with a slouch in his shoulders. One hand is in the left pocket of his torn blue jeans, barely held up by a lopsided black belt, while the right hand is holding a green aerosol spray can. I watch the boy silently as he casts the neon mist across the wall with an accuracy I have never seen before.

I gotta give him credit. He's really good at this.

I stand there a little while longer, admiring his work. For a split second, he looks to his side as he picks up a different can color, and he does a double take as he notices me. He's caught so off-guard that he jumps and drops both cans.

"What the hell, man," he groans, holding his chest. "Don't do that!"

"Sorry," I tell him. I nod towards the artwork. "Nice stuff. Looks good."

"You're not some cop, are you?" he asks with suspicion. "Or the son of a cop or some shit like that?"

"No, no cops here," I tell him. "Aunt's a nurse, though, if that means anything."

He breathes a small sigh of relief.

"Good," the teen says. "I didn't wanna have to run again."

"Again?"

"I'm back here a lot," he admits with a shrug. "Got chased by cops a few times, but they started leaving me alone after they realized they couldn't catch me."

"Why'd you run in the first place?"

"Didn't want to get in trouble for anythin'. Guess graffiti's a big deal to some cops, though most of them don't give a damn if it's hidden."

I just now notice the walls of the alleyway are covered in various graffiti tags, not just this one. They all have a similar art style, with jagged edges on the letters but large round backgrounds, giving everything an interesting sense of contrast.

"You make all of these?" I ask, admiring the work.

"Most of them," he replies, snatching up a red can to continue work on the current piece. He brings his shirt above his nose to protect himself from the fumes, and I do the same. It's harder to make out what he's saying this way, but I piece it together. "Some of 'em were here before I showed up. My guess is, some guys left their tags and the cops showed up. Either they got caught, or they pussed out and never came back after runnin'."

The can begins to make a strange spurting sound, indicating that it's running low.

"Shit…" the teen curses under his breath, smacking the can with his palm. He tosses it into a stained duffel bag on the ground. "Who are you, anyway?"

I bring my shirt off my face to speak more clearly.

"Name's Tyson. New kid in town."

"New kid? Tch, I remember when I was the new kid. It was a living hell." He extends his hand for one of the weakest handshakes I've ever had. "Tyler."

**SMASH **

**Thou art I,  
And I am thou. **

**Thou hast established a new bond,  
One that brings freedom ever closer. **

**Thou shalt be blessed when thou choosest  
to make a Persona of the Hermit Arcana…**

As time starts up again, I suddenly remember what Igor had told me a while back when he first explained Social Links.

_"It can only become a true Social Link if you or the individual you are bonding with feels a genuine friendship…"_

I guess that explains why those last attempts failed miserably.

"I can't keep working on this one without red," he explains to me, slinging the bag over his shoulder and grabbing a skateboard that's been propped up against a wall. "Gotta cut this short. I'll see you around, dude."

**{~}**

I head home shortly after meeting Tyler. My earlier worry about not having enough Social Links has been put to rest now that I've realized they have to happen by chance; forcing them isn't really going to get me anywhere. Who knew making friends was so simple?

As I come through the door, Aunt Joanne lets me know that another neighbor has asked for my help in mowing their lawn tomorrow afternoon. I decide to take them up on the request, even though what I made from the Dream World the other night is considerably more than when I got paid last time. I'm not one to turn down a way to earn cash. Well, there's that, plus the fact that I can't seem to get the money out of my head to actually use on anything. As far as I know, I can only use money from the Coin Arcana on Personas in the Velvet Room. It's kind of a cop-out, if you ask me.

"Both of them seem to want you as a regular," Aunt Joanne tells me. "Apparently you did a great job at the Anderson's."

"I don't _think_ I did, but I guess so," I admit. "Could've been better."

"Keep it up and you'll be swimming in cash!" she says with a chuckle.

"Somehow, I doubt that."

Considering I don't have much else to do at the moment, I retreat to my room for the rest of the night, turning on the TV for background noise and browsing the web, watching videos. Y'know, generally wasting time until I'm tired. The usual stuff for a high schooler.

_"August 18__th__, 2013," _I write in my journal. _"Got another Social Link, but Ally's in a coma. Emile and I are going to go save her tomorrow night. I don't expect it to be easy, but we'll get her. I'm sure of it."_

I put my journal down and lean back in my desk chair, letting out a long sigh.

_Am I sure of it…?_

**{~}**

_-Monday, August 19__th__, 2013- _

After parting ways with Maria as I enter the school, I pick up on the conversation between two girls walking in front of me. I've started to notice how easy it is to listen in on conversations and how much it helps with different things during the day. For example, I'm pretty sure I'm going to ace the next government quiz just from eavesdropping on other students studying. Some say that's cheating the system and being lazy; I say it's using my resources.

"Some clubs are opening up today," the girl on the left says. "You gonna join any?"

"I was thinking about a music club," says the second girl. "Though photography seems interesting, too…"

"You don't seem like a photography kind of person, though. I assumed you'd go for…I dunno, drama?"

"Drama?! I'm not an actor!"

I've been meaning to find out what clubs this school has, and I now I know. Further proof eavesdropping is the best way to learn.

Entering literature class, I find Emile sitting at his desk looking incredibly tense and nervous. He doesn't even seem to notice me as I take my seat in front of him.

"Uh, dude…" I say as I wave my hand across his field of view. "You feeling alright?"

Emile snaps out of his trance and looks up at me, somewhat stunned.

"Oh, y-yeah…I, uh…" he trails off to collect his thoughts. "Today's it, huh?"

"Are you feeling better?"

"I think so, yeah…"

"Then yes, we're going in today."

"Good…" Emile looks down at his hands, which are subconsciously drumming against the desk. "I don't know how much longer I can wait this out. I'm going to go crazy if we don't get her back."

"I know," I tell him with a hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry. With how much we've been training, this'll be a breeze."

"I sure hope so…"

The teacher stands up at the front of the room as the bell to begin the day rings out.

"Alright, class, open your books to page two-hundred and nine. We'll be going over the Federalist Papers for the next few days, so make sure you take some notes."

We're already learning this in American Government…this school isn't even trying.

**{~}**

After contemplating it for way longer than I reasonably should, I've decided to join the photography club. Acting has never been fun for me, even when we had to do it for projects in elementary school, so that one's out; and I thought about joining music, but without a guitar or the funds to get another one, I have a feeling that wouldn't work out.

Now, do I know how to take good pictures? Hell no. But I may as well give it a shot and see what happens.

I find a small number of students gathering around the teacher's desk as I enter the classroom. The teacher is nowhere to be seen, but a junior-aged girl is sitting in their seat talking to the other members of the club. Multiple cameras, lenses, and SD cards are littered across the desk surface.

"I don't know if I want to use this lens for that," says one boy who looks to be a sophomore. "It has a fixed zoom and I wanted to get tighter shots."

"I keep telling you, Randy," the girl at the desk says with an encouraging tone. "You gotta stop relying on zoom lenses. You're not going to get the shots you want unless you physically get closer to your subject. I mean, you can, but they won't look as good as you want them to."

The boy nods in understanding. He looks up from the conversation, having just noticed me, and the girl follows his gaze to see me standing in the doorway. I comically wave with a half-smile.

"Oh, hey! Are you here to join the club?" the junior girl asks. Her wavy blonde hair falls just barely past her shoulders, and her bangs are kept up with a headband decorated with flowers. On her chest is a high-end looking camera hanging by its neck strap, dangling in front of her black sweater with gray hood, front pocket, and sleeve ends. She stands up to shake my hand, seemingly ecstatic. "Isabella Harris, leader of the Photography Club! I'm glad you could join us!"

_(Temperance.)_

_ Oh, now this one I can handle._

"I don't know much about cameras," I admit while returning the handshake and putting Apsaras at the front of my lineup of Personas. "But it seemed like fun and I wanna give it a shot."

"No better place to learn than here, I'll tell you that much!" Isabella says with a laugh.

She introduces me to the other four members of the club and begins showing me the basic functions of the cameras they use. On the surface, the cameras seem really simple, but apparently there are a lot of menus within menus in the software, and you can equip different lenses for different results in your photographs. It makes my head spin a bit, but I feel a little smarter having learned so much stuff.

Even as people begin leaving the club as the allotted time draws to a close, Isabella continues the lesson, failing to notice the absence of what few members were here.

"If you want some _really_ close shots, there's this setting called macro. You gotta be careful, though, because that's a digital-based setting, so even the slightest movements of the camera will change the shot completely…"

She trails off as she realizes that club has long been finished.

"O-oh…wow, I didn't realize what time it was," she says. "I'm sorry…time got away from me. That happens a lot when I talk." She chuckles at herself.

"That's fine. This is all really interesting," I tell her in full honesty. "I had no idea so much went into good photography."

"A lot of people just point the camera at something and expect it to look good," Isabella explains. "Heck, we live in an era where taking a half-blurry picture with your phone and throwing a filter on it suddenly makes it 'good'. My point is that I'm not surprised."

"Well, I'm looking forward to learning more. When does this club meet?"

"We come here every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. If it's not raining, we might go out to the garden in the courtyard and see if we can get some nice shots. Otherwise, we'll just take some pictures inside or learn about how to make portfolios and stuff like that."

"Sounds like fun," I say. "I'll definitely be here Wednesday, then!"

"Glad to hear it…" she says, leaving me a space to introduce myself.

"Oh, Tyson. Tyson Rayne."

"Wait, _you're _Tyson? The new kid?" she says in awe. "You know rumors are going around that you've been showing up Coach Crane?"

_(Who called it?!)_

"Those are mostly true, actually."

"No kidding?" Isabella says with a laugh. "Wow. That takes guts!" She notices the time on the clock on the wall and springs to her feet. "Crap, I gotta be somewhere! I totally forgot!" She throws her equipment into a large camera bag and dashes out the door. "See you Wednesday, Tyson! Thanks for joining!"

**SMASH **

_Phew…_

**Thou art I,  
And I am thou.**

**Thou hast established a new bond,  
One that brings freedom ever closer.**

**Thou shalt be blessed when thou choosest  
to make a Persona of the Temperance Arcana…**

_ (For a second there, I thought you weren't going to get that one.)_

_ Yeah, me too. That was weird._

As I begin my walk home, my phone vibrates inside my pocket. I respond to Emile's texts as I slowly begin jogging. I want to take care of that lawn I promised to mow before the sun goes too far down.

_-u ready for tonight?- _he asks.

_ -Yeah, are you?-_

_ -kinda. nervous tho-_

_ -Me too.-_

_ -what if we can't do it-_

_ -Stop asking yourself and just do it. Don't be so negative.-_

_ -yeah ur right-_

The conversation ends there, though I know Emile will still continue to worry. I understand why he's stressing out over this, but it's getting frustrating to keep him calm. The operation will go way more smoothly if he would amp up his confidence. Sadly, I don't expect that to happen.

Thankfully, there's still a few hours left of daylight despite staying at school longer than I intended to. I head over to the house with my trusty lawnmower the instant I get home to take care of the job as soon as possible. My mowing job is about as sloppy as last time, but I think I'm starting to get a little better at it. This lawn was a little bigger than the last one, too, so I got paid slightly more from this family than the last one. By the time I'm back home, the harsh sun has already halfway set and I'm sweating so much that I think my red t-shirt is a shade darker. I take a long, well-deserved shower after putting away the lawnmower. Just as I'm putting a towel around my waist and drying my hair with another towel, my phone begins to ring.

_~Tell me what you'd like to hear / Something that'll light those ears / I'm sick of all the insincere~_

"Hello?" I say as I pick up my phone.

_"Hey,"_ says Emile on the other line. _"You think you're ready?"_

"Why're you asking me if I am?" I say as I go to my room, locking the door behind me. "I thought you were the one freaking out?"

_"I was, but I've been thinking about it, and you're right. I need to calm down and be strong for Ally. We're gonna save her, no matter what it takes."_

"Now that's what I'm talking about!" I say with a laugh.

_"So what's the plan?"_

"Like I said before, we don't know what her Dream Matrix will be like, so I'm not sure what we're up against. All I know is that you have to be prepared to fight a lot of Shadows. Oh, and you've known Ally for way longer than I have, so when we find her, it's up to you to convince her to wake up."

_"Got it. I'll see you in there."_

"Cool, see ya."

_Beep_

Any other night, I'd be staying up way later than this, but tonight's different. I throw on some pajamas and curl up into my bed sheets. I take one big breath, trying to calm myself down. Emile and I are the only ones that can save Ally, and we know that. This rests on our shoulders.

_You ready, Ixion?_

_ (Only if you are.)_

_ Let's go._

My vision grows cloudy as I feel myself falling into the misty void.

**{~}**

"Looks like you were right," Emile says. "It's completely different from mine."

On the opposite end of the plaza from Emile's Matrix is a collection of thick white puffy clouds suspended outside of the plaza, hovering over the fog. A rainbow curves up and out of the mass of clouds, leading to a bright light which presumably is the entrance to Ally's world. It would be a really pretty sight if it weren't for the disgusting black tendrils snaking through the structure and into the light, just as they do with Dark Gode.

"Rainbows…why am I not surprised?"

"It's fitting for her," Emile says. "But that just makes it creepier…"

I get the same vibe as Emile does. The entire Dream World takes familiarity and morphs it just enough to make it incredibly unnerving. It makes the both of us constantly on-edge knowing that we can't hide anything about ourselves from this world; it doesn't get into our heads, it _is _our heads.

I notice Emile shaking slightly out of nervousness again. Just as I did earlier today, I put my hand on his shoulder and give him words of encouragement. He simply looks back at me, his eyes showing both determination and fright. I'd say that's the perfect combination of emotions for kicking some serious ass. With firmed resolve and weapons in hand, the both of us walk up the curved rainbow and into the bright light.

As the light subsides, what we see is somewhat unexpected. We have now found ourselves in the hallway of some kind of temple build out of beige stone. The ceiling arcs above us, and the floor below is made out of thick clouds. Emile and I walk a little farther down the hallway, our mouths agape in wonder, and we find a window in the stone walls. Outside the window is a vast blue sky, though it seems to have a movement to it like an ocean. Clouds of all kinds of shapes and sizes, as well as many rainbows, are strewn across the open space, creating a beautiful scene that Emile and I stare at in silence.

"Damn…" Emile finally says.

"Yeah, no kidding…"

"We must be really high up. I can't even see the ground."

"This isn't the time to be scared of heights."

"I'm not, it's just…I'm amazed, is all."

A sudden slurping sound snaps us back to attention. The two of us point our weapons down the hallway to the sound, finding a pile of black gunk slithering towards us. The Shadow lashes out, and I have no choice but to retaliate. I slice the Shadow clot in half, causing the mass to split and reshape into three new Shadows neither of us have seen before. This time, the Shadows take the form of black and red crows holding glowing lanterns in their talons, and they all let out a sharp cry and flap their wings in anger.

_"Ixion!" _I yell, calling his card down before me. Backhanding it, Ixion appears and casts Agi on one of the Shadows, only it doesn't affect it whatsoever.

"Looks like fire skills don't work on these!" Emile points out. He summons his own Persona to bring his blade down upon one of them, causing considerable damage. Another one of the crows makes a loud screeching sound and golden pillars of light momentarily envelop the three of them.

"The hell did they just do?" Emile asks.

"I think that was an attack booster!" I respond. It's hard to explain, but just as I can tell how much energy Emile and I have, I can tell just by looking at the Shadows that they're stronger than they were earlier. The third Shadow dives straight into me, square in the chest.

"Sh-shit!" I swear under the pain. "Yup, definitely an attack boost!"

I swap out Ixion for Jack Frost, casting Bufu on the second Shadow. None of them have died yet, but two of them are close. Emile takes notice of this and shoots one of the nearly-dead ones with his handgun, causing it to explode in a flurry of black and red sludge. Both of the remaining ones charge us; I'm able to barely sidestep out of the way, but Emile takes the brunt of his attacker. Still looking for their weakness, I switch to Pixie and throw a Zio on the one with full health. With a satisfying sizzling sound, the Shadow falls to the ground, unable to move.

"They're weak to electricity!" Emile says in revelation.

Taking the opportunity, I kill off the Shadow that isn't downed, leaving the stunned one on the ground by its lonesome.

"Call it, dude!"

"Go all-out!" I respond.

"Don't hold back!"

The two of us beat the Shadow into oblivion, leaving nothing behind but its lamp. As I touch the lamp, it disappears into my Subspace. I have no idea what these will do, but it wouldn't hurt to hang on to them.

Continuing down the hallway, we find it ends and splits left and right. Both hallways seem to stretch out for a while, so we decide to take the right path and come back if needed. We encounter another group of Shadows on the way down the hall, this group having one of the tongue Shadows from the last Matrix as well as two of the crow ones, only this tongue one is pink and not blue.

One of the crow Shadows casts the attack boost skill, Matarukaja, giving all three of the Shadows an increase in attack power. The crow itself with an attack boost isn't too big of a deal, but the tongue one with more strength could prove to be a problem.

As I size up the crow Shadow, my Arcana Voice catches me by surprise.

_(Hermit.)_

_ Wait…Shadows have Arcanas?!_

The tongue Shadow acts faster than I expected it to. It casts Agilao in my direction, hitting me dead-on and shoving me to the ground. I couldn't react fast enough and change Personas, even though I know Pixie is weak to Agi skills. Unlike when I have any other Persona equipped, the burning pain is immense and leaves me unable to stand. Now defenseless and on the floor, the Shadow comes up and licks me, causing even more damage.

"Leave him alone!" Emile yells. He runs into the fray, firing two bullets at the tongued Shadow, leaving it open for attack. Jumping into the air, he uses gravity to his advantage to strengthen a pistol whip on the Shadow. The sheer power of the attack puts the Shadow on the ground as well.

The two crows go after Emile, knowing he's now the prime source of danger, though he takes the hits with little trouble. This gives me the opportunity to stand up and cast Zio on one of the crows, downing that Shadow as well.

"I've got an opening! Let me at it!"

"Go for it!" I respond to an eager Emile.

Emile dashes at the active Shadow, slamming the butt of his gun into its face. He then forces his foot into the Shadow, shoving it away and giving him a chance to aim with his firearm. With perfect accuracy, he fires a bullet directly between the eyes of the crow. The Shadow collapses to the ground, unable to move.

"They're all down! Let's get 'em!"

Giving the nod of approval to Emile, we charge the Shadows just as we did with the last group, bringing up a cloud of smoke in the massacre.

_(Shuffle Time.)_

After picking up more lanterns from the wreckage, I'm presented with a chance for money, a weapon, or a Persona. I aim for the Persona, but accidentally end up with the weapon instead. However, nothing seems to change inside my own Subspace.

"Hey, Emile, check your weapons real quick."

"Huh? Why would I…" Emile suddenly switches out the silver handgun for another one, only this one is black and seems to be stronger. "The hell? When did I get this?"

"Don't ask," I tell him. I don't think I'd be able to explain it.

We round the corner and find a small room with a treasure chest at the far end of it. I summon Apsaras to heal me before we take on the Shadow patrolling the area. Taking it out easily, we open up the chest and find a blue overcoat inside.

"What does this do…?" I ask aloud.

"Doesn't matter; either way, I'm taking it," Emile says, putting it on. Strangely enough, the coat is absorbed into him, making no change to his physical appearance but presumably giving him the benefits of it. "You got the fire ring."

Finding this path to be a dead end, we turn back and go down the unexplored hallway. This time, we find two Shadow clots roaming the hallway. Emile shoots the one closest to us, initiating a fight with another three crows.

"I'm really sick of these ones," Emile groans.

One crow casts Matarukaja, as expected, bringing up the power of the three Shadows. Deciding I'm not going to have any of that, I cast Zio on two of them, bringing them both down. With one Shadow left, I allow Emile to perform the same follow-up attack from earlier, bringing all the Shadows down and giving us an opening for another All-Out Attack. We assume the battle is over, but to our dismay, the other clot down the hallway was attracted to the fight. The clot splits and forms pink tongued Shadows and the two of them enter the fray. I switch off from Pixie and over to Nekomata for a fire resistance and attack the Shadow on the left with my sword. Emile holds out his new gun and fires it at the one on the right; the Shadow clearly feels more pain than the previous gun caused. Thanks to Nekomata, I receive minimal damage from the next Agilao cast on me, and Emile dodges a lick with such perfect timing that the Shadow is thrown off balance and falls over to the floor. I summon Nekomata to use Cleave, and she slices at the non-downed Shadow with her claws right across its body. The downed Shadow slowly begins to float back up, regaining its composure, and the two of them move in for another attack. Shrugging them off, Emile and I take out what little damage they have left with our basic weapons.

"You tired?" Emile asks me.

I summon Apsaras to heal what little damage the two of us took.

"Not at all," I say with a smirk.

Down a couple more hallways, we find a spiral stone staircase leading upwards. We make our way up to the next floor, which is visually identical to the last one but with an entirely different layout. Strangely enough, looking out the windows, we find no traces of the previous floor below us.

After decimating another group of Shadows, Shuffle Time reappears again, only this time I manage to nab a new Persona, this one being Saki Mitama – a golden teardrop-shaped Persona with a squinty-eyed smile. The pointed end of the drop curves up and to the Persona's left side. Checking its Arcana, I discover it's of the High Priestess.

_It's about damn time I got one of these!_

We fight off another group of Shadows, and Emile uses this fight to show off a new skill his Persona got upon leveling up. This one is similar to the spell used by the crows, only it's Tarukaja instead of Matarukaja, so the attack boost only works on one of us at a time, but I can see that skill being used a lot. Looking at our Spirit Points amount, it's not all that low but it's decreasing at an uncomfortably fast rate. Emile and I unanimously decide to conserve SP unless it's completely necessary.

Making our way through floor two is an easy process, and we pick up some more money and another gun for Emile along the way, though this one, a pistol with a silencer, isn't as powerful as his black one, so he's decided to stick with the old one.

Halfway through the third floor, Emile points out a glowing crack in the wall to me. Just as he says, to my left is a long but thin opening in the tan bricks with a bright light pouring through it. I hesitantly walk towards it and look into it, Emile standing behind me. In a sudden flash, the two of us now begin to see a discarded memory of Ally's.

In what I'm guessing to be Ally's house, her and her younger sister, Ellie, are sitting on the floor of their living room, playing with dolls together. Just as it was in the vision of Emile's memories, the world is monochrome, but Ally herself is in full color. Looking at Ally, I can tell this isn't what she enjoys doing in her spare time, but Ellie is having so much fun spending time with her older sister that it brings a bright smile to Ally's face. The two seem to be having a genuinely good time together.

However, a sound slowly enters hearing range, and the sisters look at each other in disappointment. I can't make out what the sound is; it's too quiet and too muffled, but it's a constant angry noise. Ellie's face shows discontent, but Ally quickly reassures her sister with a smile that I know is faked. The two of them continue playing on despite the noise.

After another flash of light, the memory ends. I look at Emile, confused, but he looks back with the same face.

"I don't know what that was," he tells me. "I don't think I've ever seen her that upset before…"

"We need to keep going. This is making me worried."

"Yeah, me, too."

As we reach the top of the stairs leading to the fourth floor, a mysterious figure turns the corner at the end of the hallway. Emile notices it first and runs off after it, and I follow after him. We turn left just as the figure did; we see nothing but a Shadow clot in front of us.

"I though…I thought I-…" Emile mumbles incoherently.

"No, I saw it too," I tell him. "What was that?"

_"You're happy, right?"_

Emile and I immediately go back-to-back, looking down both ends of the hall but seeing nothing.

_"Why wouldn't you be happy? You have no reason to be upset."_

"Who's there?!" Emile yells.

The voice seemingly ignores him and continues on.

_"We'll be just fine here."_

A second voice speaks, though this one is recognizable.

_"You'll keep us safe?"_

"Ally…?!" Emile yells. "Ally, where are you?!"

_"We'll be safe…yeah…"_

The voices stop there, leaving Emile without answers.

"Look alive!" I tell him as a Shadow clot comes after us.

The Shadows that form as I cut it open are three marionette-looking things will visible joints and strings that lead to nothing. Their heads are covered in black sacks and tied off with ropes, and dark blue rounded masquerade masks are attached to the fronts of the bags. Their hands and legs dangle and move in a very unnatural and jerky fashion.

_(Emperor.)_

The one on the far left suddenly raises its arm and vibrates, casting a storm of lightning toward Emile and me. Luckily, I've had Saki Mitama equipped, so I receive regular damage from the electricity. Emile doesn't have the luxury of switching Personas, so the multi-target Zio skill, Mazio, forces Emile to the ground; Capaneus seems to be weak to electricity. The next Shadow casts Mazio as well, and the third one goes straight for me, kicking me in the face. Looking at Emile, I find him to be Dizzy, which means he's not going to be getting up anytime soon and is now just a sitting target. I quickly devise a plan that might work, though it'll take luck on our part.

_"Saki Mitama!" _I call out as the card comes into view. I backhand it, bringing out the gold Persona to spin around in midair. Frozen energy collects around one of the marionettes and, thankfully, the Shadow falls to its knees – it's weak to Bufu. I repeat this process for the next two Shadows, though because Emile's down and Dizzy, we can't go for an All-Out Attack. Instead, with the opening I have, I switch over to Jack Frost and use Re Patra, which cures Emile of his Dizziness. Emile stands to his feet and attacks one of the downed Shadows, finishing it off. The two get back up again, however, and the first one casts Mazio. Luckily, Emile manages to dodge the electric blast. The second Shadow opts to kick Emile instead, which was a dumb choice on its part. I perform three consecutive slices on one of the Shadows, killing it off with a powerful critical hit, and I attack the final Shadow with one slice; Emile finishes it with a single shot. Switching back to Saki Mitama, I heal us back to full health again, though my SP is now too low for comfort.

Upon reaching floor five, we find a large stone door, and an ominous presence can be felt through it. Asking Emile if he's ready and receiving a positive response, the two of us shove open the door, finding ourselves in a large round room with the ceiling open to the beautiful sky. On the opposite end of the room is another door similar to this one. However, there's someone standing between us and the next floor.

"Ally!" Emile yells happily. He starts into a run towards the girl, but I force him back beside me.

Ally, in a beautiful, flowing, pure white dress, turns around to face us. Her face lights up and she begins jumping for joy, just as she always has.

"Oh, wow, guys! You came! You actually came!" she says with a smile. "I can't believe it!"

"Ally…" Emile says after composing himself. "Ally, you need to listen to me. You can't stay here. You need to come back with us."

"Don't be silly, Emile!" she says with a scoff. "I just got here! Why would I go home?"

"Because you're dreaming!" Emile yells. "You need to wake up!"

Unfortunately, Ally isn't listening. Her mind seems to be elsewhere at the moment, though when people say that, they usually mean the person's daydreaming, but in this scenario, it seems like her mind is literally somewhere else entirely; the Ally before us may be happy, but with the way she moves and talks, it seems more like she's just an empty husk.

As if remembering something, Ally clasps her hands together and begins heading towards the door in the back of the room, her dress waving behind her.

"Emile, come here; I have to show you something!" Ally says. "Seriously, it's amazing!" She waves to us as the door opens all on its own. As she runs up the stairs, we hear her yell, "Hurry up!"

_"Ally!" _Emile screams. This time, I let him run after her. Unfortunately for him, the stone slab quickly slams shut, locking him off from the stairs.

Suddenly, a flood of black mist collects between the two of us in the center of the room. Emile quickly realizes the danger of the situation and readies himself for battle, and I do the same. What appears from the black sludge is a Shadow similar to the crows, only it's much bigger, is lacking the lantern, and has a large plumage of feathers around its neck. On its face is a white mask.

"Look out!" Emile yells as he notices the Shadow's movements.

The giant eagle-like Shadow reels its wings back for a powerful swipe; as it does so, a blast of twisting green energy, the wind skill Garula, throws me back towards the door. Emile summons Capaneus for the Physical skill Skull Basher on the Shadow, dealing some decent damage, though the Shadow appears to have a large amount of health compared to what we've fought so far. I switch off to Ixion to cast Agi, but to my surprise, the Shadow absorbs it and regains health from the attack.

"What the hell are you doing?!" Emile yells from across the room.

"I don't know!" I call back. "I thought that would work!"

The Shadow attacks me with its talons, slicing me across the chest and cutting open my white t-shirt. Thanks to Personas, cuts on my skin are minor, though they still hurt pretty badly.

"Find something that works on it!" Emile tells me as he summons his Persona to give me a power boost.

I switch to Jack Frost and cast Bufu, which thankfully seems to do the trick; the Shadow panics and falls to the ground, and thanks to the Tarukaja, the Shadow is reeling in some serious pain. We jump up on top of it, creating a large cloud of smoke as we beat it as much as we can. Unlike past fights, the All-Out Attack doesn't finish it off, but it does put a dent in its massive amount of health.

This time, instead of attacking us, the avian Shadow flaps its wings and glows with a green energy.

_What did it do that time?!_

_ (I think that was Sukukaja. It might be harder for you to hit it now.)_

_ Oh, freakin' fantastic…_

My fears are realized when a Skull Basher from Capaneus fails to connect; the Shadow suddenly barrel rolls out of the way seconds before impact. Sadly, I don't have any skills that counteract the Sukukaja, so we'll have to wait out the boost. I try hitting it again with Bufu, but to no avail. At this point, my SP is now nearly depleted. A knot sets into my stomach; we shouldn't have fought this thing in this state.

The Shadow now goes for Emile, hitting him with Garula. Emile may be able to take hits, though he's taken enough of them by now to make him really weak. This time, Capaneus' Skull Basher connects with the Shadow and causes it to become Dizzy. Knowing it'll take some time to recover, I reach into my Subspace and pull out an item we picked up while exploring the Dream Matrix – a Soul Drop – and eat it, restoring a small bit of Spirit Points at the expense of a god-awful taste in my mouth. Emile hits it with another attack, causing some more damage while I switch off to Saki Mitama to heal some of Emile's damage.

"Why are you healing me?!" Emile questions. "Just hit the bastard!"

The Shadow recovers from its Dizziness and attacks me with its talons again, though I jump and roll out of the way this time. Staying on Saki Mitama, I summon the Persona, feeling that familiar buzz of a perfect hit in the back of my skull. The Persona spins in place as the Shadow falls to the ground from another Bufu.

"What're we waiting for?! We have an opening!"

"Take it!"

With one last All-Out Attack, the Shadow explodes in a brilliant flurry of disgusting slime. I stab my sword into the clouds at my feet and lean myself on its pommel for support, trying to catch my breath. That was easily the toughest fight we've had so far, and I'm utterly drained from tackling five whole floors worth of Shadows.

"Dude, what're you sitting around for?" Emile says to me, beckoning me to follow him through the now-open door. "We almost had her!"

_"Emile!" _I yell as I sternly grab Emile by the shoulders. He looks back at me with shock, sadness, and anger all at once. Looking back at him, I can tell his health is low and his SP is even lower. "Stop. We can't keep going today. We need to come back tomorrow."

"What?!" he responds, shaking me off.

"Dude, you gotta listen to me," I say, switching to Jack Frost. "We can't keep on fighting like this. We're tired and that last Shadow almost did us in."

"We beat it!"

"We got lucky!"

Emile simply stares at me, somewhat angry.

"We're not abandoning her," I explain. "Like I said before, we're pacing ourselves. We're no good to Ally if we're dead."

I stare directly at Emile, not breaking eye contact. I've realized being stern with him is the only way to get him to listen. Honestly, I feel bad having to be such a dick to him, but he needs someone to keep him in line. If he had tried to rescue Ally alone, he wouldn't have survived for more than five minutes.

Emile stares back at me, clearly pissed, but he knows I'm right. He looks down at the ground and shakes his head as he heads back for the door we came up through.

"Tomorrow," he says with determination. "We come back tomorrow night."


End file.
